Why aren,t grain bins used more in the UK

[Pilatus]

I have just looked at my Canadian (Saskatchewan) farming contacts web page www.parklandventures .com and I see they have erected two
more large grain bins plus replacing their grain dryer with one of 35% more output. As in thread title why aren't grain bins used more in the uk ?

 

[Holsteinfriesian90]

Because they are a pain in the backside.

 

[teslacoils]

Preference for pd sheds which turn into light industrial units?

 

[Ruston3w]

I bought two hardly used 350t bins a couple of years ago for very little, took them down and put back up now they are good, both with floors and stirrers , cheap drying if we only need to take a little out. By the time I put up an elevator and gantry the costs started to mount. I'm very happy with where we ended up but can't see how it could work buying new bins? Also started cutting today and still have a list of odds and ends to do before we fill the last bin-like "where's that drip from the top conveyor getting in?" or why does that discharge auger sound different to this identical one? Lots of small bits to look after.

 

[David.]

They are pretty efficient grain storage, especially with a leg and pumping system to move the grain around the bins; grain storage in this country has more than half an eye to future potential industrial uses and commercial storage, as much as keeping grain. Not so much in Canada.

 

[Steevo]

Sheds are dual purpose. When empty of grain they can be used to store machinery, or cattle, or straw. Can’t say that with a grain bin.

 

[Deerefarmer]

Your humidity and rainy climate would be my guess... got to keep a close eye on condensation

 

[tw15]

Sheds are dual purpose. When empty of grain they can be used to store machinery, or cattle, or straw. Can’t say that with a grain bin.

Old grain bins can be turned into houses if sited in the right place .

 

[Bongodog]

One answer might be that at an average US yield of around 1.5 tons to the acre bins are less arse ache than at UK yields. Look at some of the US youtube videos of emptying grain bins, most seem to have their own trucks they use to take grain off the farm, and are happy to take an hour or more to load 20 tons of grain. Imagine asking a UK lorry driver to hang around for 90 minutes while you auger 28 tonnes into his trailer.

 

[Clive]

not dual purpose, a PITA to clean out, hard work to empty last bits, equipment required to fill and empty that WILL break , dangerous (people have been killed getting in them) and not as cheap as you imagine vs a flat floor store / t last time I looked into it and had quotes

Frankly why are they so popular in other countries is a better question !

 

[deleted user 837354]

I suspect the reason they are so popular abroad is that they don't require huge areas of concrete to be poured unlike a shed. Some of the farms you will see using them on youtube are literally hundreds of miles away from anywhere, so ordering 9 cubes of concrete to be delivered tomorrow for £60 a cubic (yard) metre just isn't going to happen. A bin on the other hand, all fits on an artic and can be assembled fairly quickly.

What you don't want mind is them sitting in a flood....

The above also explains why so many farms in the USA have their own truck. Getting transport might not be that straight forward if all you want is to go to the local elevator or rail head and back 7 times a day.

Having had to clean out a sizeable grain bin or two before I would not have them either.

A dryer and bins under a roof are a different matter mind.

 

[Dead Rabbits]

Why even have grain storage on farm ? Used to cut at a 30000 acre farm in South Dakota that had maybe 20000 bushel storage( half a days harvest at best) and that was for their own use. Run by a very shrewd guy who also didn’t own any combines, and no interest in ever getting any. Claimed he was profitable every year.

It seems like your system in the UK kind of forced the grain storage onto the farmer more so than here. So the infrastructure wouldn’t be there to go from field to buyer. Grain handling is something I despise though so I’m clearly biased.

 

[ARW]

I don’t think the town planners want a huge bin in there nice villages either

 

[Suffolk Serf]

One answer might be that at an average US yield of around 1.5 tons to the acre bins are less arse ache than at UK yields. Look at some of the US youtube videos of emptying grain bins, most seem to have their own trucks they use to take grain off the farm, and are happy to take an hour or more to load 20 tons of grain. Imagine asking a UK lorry driver to hang around for 90 minutes while you auger 28 tonnes into his trailer.

The yields that you quote might be true of wheat (which is often grown in a double crop situation) but in many States they get enormous yields of corn (grain maize)- 5 tonnes per acre is not uncommon.

 

[Clive]

I don’t think the town planners want a huge bin in there nice villages either

That’s the biggest plus point - they are “plant” not building so I believe don’t need PP

Also treated differently for tax as plant than buildings - that might also explain popularity in the USA ?

 

[Pilatus]

I suspect the reason they are so popular abroad is that they don't require huge areas of concrete to be poured unlike a shed. Some of the farms you will see using them on youtube are literally hundreds of miles away from anywhere, so ordering 9 cubes of concrete to be delivered tomorrow for £60 a cubic (yard) metre just isn't going to happen. A bin on the other hand, all fits on an artic and can be assembled fairly quickly.

What you don't want mind is them sitting in a flood....

The above also explains why so many farms in the USA have their own truck. Getting transport might not be that straight forward if all you want is to go to the local elevator or rail head and back 7 times a day.

Having had to clean out a sizeable grain bin or two before I would not have them either.

A dryer and bins under a roof are a different matter mind.

The point about the cost of concrete is very true , where farms are many miles from concrete works compared to tiddly sized uk.

 

[Ruston3w]

The point about the cost of concrete is very true , where farms are many miles from concrete works compared to tiddly sized uk.

mind you, if you follow drawings there is a fair lump under a 10m bin, I spent around 60% of flat store money on bases and apron.

 

[California]

We have two modern 600/700 stirrer bins. There are actually several neighbours around our way that have them.
The main advantages of them are that they are cheaper than a shed, take up less space and as they are classed as plant rather than buildings you can use your capital allowance to offset against tax (or you certainly could when we had ours). The great thing for us is that you can dry grain in them quickly (down from 20% to below 15% in a few days), stir it all around to help mix samples and you can control and monitor the tenperature easily. Touch wood we haven't had an bug problems so far in the 5 years or so we've been using them. Also vermin proof.
There is no shovelling with them at all really, just the bottom inch or so to sweep in to the middle on the last load that the sweep auger can't get. We've had no safety issues (might be if you were climbing in one with linseed or something but we only use them for wheat). Access is via staircases, no ladders these days so very safe to get in.
Not as quick as tipping a trailer straight in a shed of course but 10inch auger does an easy ton a minute so not so bad. Loading out is a doddle 20-25 minutes for a lorry depending how hard you want to push it.
Other downsides are obviously that you can't store a tractor in them but we keep our wheat until May / June anyway. You also have the equipment to maintain including belts, chains etc.
A big modern shed with drying and stirring facilities would be the ideal I suppose but the silos are far better than the old fashioned shed with A-ducting we were hiring previously.

 

[farmerm]

One answer might be that at an average US yield of around 1.5 tons to the acre bins are less arse ache than at UK yields. Look at some of the US youtube videos of emptying grain bins, most seem to have their own trucks they use to take grain off the farm, and are happy to take an hour or more to load 20 tons of grain. Imagine asking a UK lorry driver to hang around for 90 minutes while you auger 28 tonnes into his trailer.

20T an hour, sounds like the stuff of dreams, we have a 4inch set up that is nearer 18T in 2 hours.... I do warn the buyers but they don't always pass it on to the transport division

 

[Deutzdx3]

We had 6 open bins in a building, would have needed double the building size if there weren’t bins in there. That said, we had to winch the motor up and over into eac bin to run the sweep auger. Unloading was a slow process from the trailer and into the lorry. A pit that could have held 16t load would have been perfect. Dump and go. That’s the only economical way bins can really work.