Across the U.S. Midwest, farmers are taking in their annual harvests of corn, soybeans and sorghum. This year, they have a special problem: Where to put it all. Grain storage levels already have been extraordinarily tight. According to Bloomberg, for the past two years, about 73 percent of capacity was used up by the December peak season, when the three crops are newly harvested. Thanks to Chinese tariffs, lackluster prices and near-perfect growing conditions, there’s likely to be even less space this time around. Matt Penka, Grain Merchandiser for the Great Bend Coop, says a record soybean harvest is putting a strain on storage capacity across the country and right here in Barton County.

Matt Penka Audio

Penka says storage for corn hasn’t been quite as bad in this area but says with so much milo still left to be cut, everyone is wondering where all the grain will go.

Matt Penka Audio

The current harvest is likely to make that worse. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a run of ideal weather means that corn yields should hit a record across the country this year, as will soybeans in many states. Despite the uncertainty around tariffs at the time farmers were sowing earlier in the year, the 2018 soybean harvest hasn’t been cut back at all and is being forecast to be the largest ever.