RECAPS GRAIN
Sorghum use on the rise
You can even find it in your Cheerios
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By Joe Kelley
arch 2014 finds United Ag Port
of Victoria coming off of a record harvest in terms of number of bushels handled. In addition to area
farmers that we typically see each year, the
POV location served as a trans-load origination point for “waxy,” or high-starch, content
corn destined for Midwest markets of Kansas
City and Indianapolis. High-starch corn is
used primarily in industrial applications
from spray starch for shirts to pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and food grade thickening agents, to name a few. This trans-load
operation coincided with the local harvest.
So, we had two separate receiving operations
going at the same time, with one scale/pit/
elevator leg unit dedicated to loading railcars
and the other to handling the local corn and
sorghum harvest. We put in a lot of nighttime hours — the rail operations shut down
at 8 p.m. — for the “rail leg” to be utilized
for drying grain. Depending on the amount
of grain to be dried, the drying process,
although relatively quick, takes us into the
late night hours until it is completely dried or
until the wet tank levels are at an acceptable
level in which to start the next day.
Obviously, the upcoming crop is on everyone’s mind: How is the moisture level as
farmers begin to plant? How will the recent
cold temperatures affect seed that is already
planted? How many acres of yell