grain industry 101

paul asked me if i was free to join him for a day at work. "ummm, sure?"

then he explained he had an appointment with clients three hours away in the small town of sidney, nebraska and would like me to join him for the drive. a day with my husband in the middle of a work week, absolutely! so, we hopped into the car heading northeast.

there is a running joke here in boulder after a bout of our very high winds, which often reach 90mph, that our outdoor belongings now missing could be found somewhere in nebraska. so throughout the day, i kept my eye out for the long lost cover to our hot tub :)

if you have never been to the peaceful, open, plains state of nebraska,

well, it is a whole lotta this.......

big blue skies, cornfields, grain silos, feed lots, cattle ranches, acres of hay bales, cargo trains, more feed lots, windmills as far as the eye can see and bounteous fields of golden grain.

this year in particular has produced a huge crop of wheat...in the top 5 ever !!!

on our way home, paul wanted to check in with a good friend who runs a grain elevator in roggen, colorado.

i got a hands on tutorial of the basics and heart of the grain industry from field to foodstuffs. i loved it.

semi's loaded with harvested wheat from local farms we had just passed through line up at the elevator to be weighed.

 their cargo is dumped from the underside of the trailer into a pit, then onto a conveyer system.

with the high yield this year, all of the grain bins at the elevator are full so they have to utilize outside storage areas with covered bunkers and "wheat tubes".

these 'tubes" are giant sized sausage-shaped storage bags and cover about 15 acres of the facility.

finally, and this is where paul's position plays a part in the industry, purchased grain is loaded into empty trailers transporting the grain to rail cars then to export elevators and loaded into ships for delivery around the world. 

congratulations, you too have successfully completed beginner course, grain 101.

hey, thanks for inviting me along for the ride, paul.