More on big sheds for grain

         It seems many farmers across the Prairies are wondering if a large shed is the answer to their grain storage shortages. I talked today with Greg Stamp from Stamp Select Seeds of Enchant, Alta., who keeps overflow and uncleaned seed in a huge potato storage shed. The family doesn't grow potatoes anymore, but they've got this 100 by 120 foot shed that they now use for seed.

They divide the shed into smaller storage areas using concrete blocks to build temporary and moveable walls. They have an alley down the middle for the loader. Greg actually uses a row of mini-bulk bags -- filled with seed or fertilizer -- with stacks of concrete blocks on either side to provide a serious buffer between seed lots. He says someone storing grain wouldn't have to go that far. Just a stack of concrete blocks would be enough.

The Stamps use a Case skid steer loader to move seed from inside the shed to an auger at the door. The loader isn't big enough to dump directly into the back of a semi, but it fits up and down the central alley and into each storage area with ease.

Greg says they use the shed for extra capacity. Their first choice for convenience and separation of seed is a row of Wheatland hopper bottom bins. I asked if he would put up a grain storage shed if he didn't already have the old potato storage shed handy. "I would consider it," he says. It could be used for machinery storage after the grain is removed. And on one occassion, Viterra paid the Stamps a fee to store 3,000 tonnes of urea in the shed. A shed can be used for many other uses besides just grain.

Update from the field

The Stamps are done seeding except for one field. They got started in late April, seeding into better than usual moisture. They had good seeding weather through early May. The only reason they're not already done is that they were waiting on some more "Go" CWRS seed. "We expect Go to overtake Superb in areas with good moisture and high fertility," Greg says. That's high praise since the Stamps also grow Superb and have had some very good results with it.