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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWingham Advance-Times, 1977-09-07, Page 6I4 0.0.— „ September 7, 1977 THE SIGHT THAT GREETS YOU while driving along Concession 9 of Township is not Canada's newest aero -space complex. It is a new 100 foot tall being assembled on the George Underwood farm. Turnberry corn dryer GRAIN DISTRIBUTOR—Roger Morrison and John Underwood put the final touches on a grain distributor that will be mounted at the top of one of the 23,000 bushel storage bins. Its function is to distribute the dried corn evenly as it enters the bin. ran dryer is example f technology on farm Farming $s no longer a simple way of life, it's a business too. And, as for virtually any suc- cessful business, it requires continuous investment in nem equipment and technology to make it more efficient and allow for a profit. One example of the type of technology employed in a modern farming operation is the new corn. drying complex nearing com- pletition at the George Under- wood farm. on Concession 9 of Turnberry Township. • While it will do some custom work for neighboring farmers, the dryer: is primarily intended for the Underwoods' own corn crop — 450 acres of it, with yields ranging upward of 85 bushels to the acre. And, •though Mr. Under - Wood prefers not to discuss it in dollar figures, the investment is obviously considerable. ' Much of the corn crop is used on his own farm, raising' feedlot beef, turkeys and chicken broil- ers. He could use all of it, Mr. Underwood said, but it's more practical to sell some to a mill in return for feed rather than manufacturing the feed on the farm. The dryer is an impressive sight. Its bright red elevator shaft towers 100 Leet into the air, a Canadian flag fluttering proud- ly at the top. Clustered around the shaft are shiny galvanized holding and storage bins, all linked: to the elevator by chutes, and the perforated metal tunnel that is the actual dryer. Wet corn, brought in by wagon or truck, will be dumped into' a concrete pit. An auger running at the bottom of the pit will carry the corn to the elevator, where it will be raised, in buckets attached to a continuous belt, to the top of the shaft. At the top, the cdrn is directed into one of two, 2,000 bushel, wet corn holding bins and, from there, into the dryer. In the dryer,the corn is distributed between double walls surrounding the heating chamb- er. a 30 horsepower electric fan blows air .past a 13 million BTU propane heating element and into the chamber. In order to escape, the hot air must, pass through the .perforated .metal .walls of .. the • drying chamber and through the wet corn. The hot corn then returns to the top of the elevator and is chuted into one of two 23,000 bushel storage bins. The floors of the bins are also perforated, with an air space underneath, and a fan can either force air into this space and through the corn from beneath or draw air out, with the air passing through the corn from above. This aeration floor cools the corn, which will be entering the bins at a temperature of about 120 degrees Farenheit. Mr. Underwood hopes the dryer will process 4-5,000 bushels of wet corn every 24 hours. This may be a conservative e5titnate, he said, but he has found manu- facturers' claims for a lot of farm equipment tend to be optimistic. To give perspective to the 12 million BTU heating capacity of 'the unit, he remarked that an average home furnace puts out in the neighborhood of 80-100,000 BTUs. The Underwoods drew up the plans for the dryer complex themselves, beginning last win- ter, after studying other drying setups in Ontario and Michigan. They had a local engineer check their design of the support for the holding bins; mounted some 50 feet in the airr, but the rest went up as they had planned it. At the heart of the design for a dryer complex is the need to have the chutes angled properly so that the corn will flow. These angles determine the height of the elevator and holding bins and the placement of the storage bins. Wet corn needs about a 60 degree spouting angle to flow freely, Mr. Underwood explained, while dry corn needs approximately 45 degrees. Actual constructTn started June 20 and Mr. Underwood expects it to be completed in time for this fall's harvest — the end of September to mid-October. He and sons Nelson and John formed the core of the construction crew. He also hired three youths, Raymond Lewis and David Golley of W ingham and Roger Morrison of Lucknow, under a government-sponsored student employment program, and got a helping hand in some of the as- sembly and painting from daugh- ters Kathy and Aileen. Most of the components of the ,dryer system are built in the United States and were bought through a distributor at Newton. A firm of millwrights from Elmira manufactured the ele- vator leg and they built the holding bin support themselves. With the exception of propane for the. burner, all the equipment will be electrically powered. It would cost between $10,000 and $20,0(10 to bring three phase current the 21 miles to the farm, so they are planning to use a rotary converter to produce three phase eurrent from the single phase available. Last week, Mr. Underwood was still awaiting a decision by Hydro inspectors on how the converter should be wired up in order for them to pass it. The whole system' is designed to allow for future expansion. There is room for two 400000 bushel storage bins across from the present ones and Mr. Under- wood is thinking of putting in a truck scales in front of the control room next year. He regards the dryer as an in- vestment in the future, as his sons are interested in farming. Nelson has already completed one year of a four year course at the Ontario Agricultural College of the University of Guelph and John will be starting a two year course there this fall. The problem with investments in farming, he notes, is that the price of produce is seldom tied very closely to production costs. As an example, he calculated the price of tractors has escalated from about $37,50 per horsepower in the mid 1950s to over $200 per horsepower today. At the same time, his records show cattle were selling for 46 cents a pound in 1951 — today he would get 45 cents a pound, Farmers have been able to compensate for' some of this discrepancy between what they must pay and what they can get by becoming more efficient. If they can produce 100 bushels of corn per acre instead of 85, production' costs per bushel are lower. Still, there is no guarantee. Mr. Underwood noted that one son who is farming has calculated his production costs for corn this year at $2.28 per bushel.while, on the current market, he would be lucky to sell it for $1.50 per bushel. The ohly thing to do, he said, is to hold onto it and hope the price will rise. What does the future hold for farm marketing? Mr. Underwood said he really isn't sure. He opposed the poultry marketing board when it was being formed, but now admits he probably couldn't survive without it. One. thing appears certain: some method . of tying prices to production costs must be found if farmers are to continue ap- proaching their bankers for the capitalneeded to buy equipment, such as corn dryers, to keep•their operations efficient and viable. STAN iNG IN THE DOORWAY of the control room from whict- tie will eventually direct the operation of his new corn drying complex, George Underwood sees his project.near- ing completion. He and his family drew up the plans for the complex last winter, after looking over similar operations in Ontario and Michigan, and Dave done much of the con- struction themselves. IT'S A LONG WAY to the top of the corn elevator, where a Canadian flag flaps in the breeze. The elevator hoists corn 100 feet to the top, from where it is transferred() through chutes to the wet grain holding bins and eventually to the dryer. It then repeats the trip to the top and is chuted into storage bins. WARD & UPTIGROVE (519) 791J040 CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS Listowel (519)291-3040 CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS TWO HUNDRED FEET of elevator belt trails off into the distance, waiting to be installed in its housing. The buckets attached to the belt will carry corn to'the top of the elevator shaft, to be directed into the dryer or storage bins. A LOT OF HEAT—Wet corn is dried with heat from this 13 million -BTU propane dryer. A centrifugal fan mounted hehind the heating element and driven by a 30 horsepower electric motor forces the hot alr through the corn. By way of comparison, the average home furnace puts out 80-100,000 BTUs. Men's Shirts Sweaters and Pants School time has arrived and if you want to look your best for September's classes, the place to shop is Readman Cleaners. READMAN CLEANERS AND MEN'S WEAR WINGHAM