SASKATOON – A growing number of Saskatchewan farmers are being forced to pile grain on the ground after bin manufacturers, dealers and erection crews faced a jump in demand this summer.
“Demand just shot up like a rocket in the middle of June,” said George Gamby, sales and marketing manager with Westeel in Winnipeg.
“If someone would have told us farmers would be in ordering bins at record rates we could have handled it, but no one can predict that…. It’s like the weather.”
Gamby attributed the dramatic increase to higher grain prices which prompted farmers to plant more cereals this year. Delayed seeding due to poor weather conditions compounded the situation, he said.
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“Farmers were worried about putting their crops in. They weren’t thinking about storage.”
Meeting a sudden surge in demand is difficult for manufacturers because steel mills have lead times of up to 14 weeks, he said.
Jack Welch, owner of the Calgary-based company Twister, said manufacturers are reluctant to order an abundance of materials at the risk of being caught short of buyers.
“I don’t order steel until I think I can sell it,” Welch said. He estimated demand this year was up 80 to 100 percent over last year, which put pressure on all segments of the industry.
“And because each farmer tries to delay purchasing storage for as long as possible, we were hit with a rush in June and July.”
Dealers also feel the pinch. Don Peters, sales manager for Flaman’s Saskatoon office, said demand for storage facilities peaks early in the harvest season when farmers realize their needs. By then, it’s often too late.
“There’s always guys that will wait until the last minute and they’re the ones that get left behind and end up with grain on the ground,” Peters said.
Procrastination isn’t the only reason some farmers miss out. After buying a bin, they face long waiting lists to book set-up crews, each equipped with bin erection cranes and jacking tools.
Welch, who has been manufacturing grain bins for nearly 20 years, said bin shortage is a cyclical problem that seems to hit every five years.
