November 3, 2025 • 37 mins
Temporary Storage – Is Your System Ready?
Temporary storage plays a critical role in grain operations—but it comes with unique challenges, risks, and costs that must be carefully managed. In this episode, 40-year industry veteran Bob Marlow shares hard-earned lessons, success strategies, technologies improving temporary storage, and a practical framework for evaluating whether this year's plan is truly ready.
From grain quality protection and site design to cost tracking and operational safety, Bob provides real-world examples every grain facility can learn from—plus one cautionary tale you won’t forget.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
- When and why facilities rely on temporary storage—and how to distinguish emergency vs. true temporary storage
- The biggest advantages vs. drawbacks compared to permanent storage
- Essential steps to ensure your temporary storage system is ready before harvest
- How pad design, tarps, aeration, and fan management impact safety and grain quality
- Why grain quality issues escalate faster in piles and how to prevent loss
- The most commonly overlooked or “hidden” costs—and how to track them
- New tech and evolving best practices (CO₂ monitoring, wind-based fan control, improved tarps, cover-on-first systems)
- A practical readiness checklist based on Purdue’s SLAM method (Sanitize, Level, Aerate, Monitor)
Key Takeaways
- Temporary storage is not “cheap storage.” It has recurring costs and higher risk that demand intentional planning.
- Grain quality is the make-or-break factor. Moisture, temperature swings, and tarp failures can quickly turn #1 grain into sample grade.
- Don’t “set it and forget it.” Fan mismanagement can cause re-wetting, heating, mold, and insects.
- Track true costs annually. Labor, tarps, repairs, pest control, fuel/electricity, and reclaim losses add up.
- Technology is changing the game. CO₂ monitoring, wind-based fan controls, and cover-on-first designs are improving outcomes.
Bob’s Readiness Checklist (SLAM Method)
Before harvest, confirm:
S – Sanitize: Clean pad, remove old grain, treat for pests
L – Load Level/Core: Build and core the pile properly
A – Aerate: Have a plan to cool grain and manage fans correctly
M – Monitor/Maintain: Monitor CO₂, temp, tarp condition, equipment & safety
Red Flags That Require Immediate Action
- Off-odors around fans (sour, musty, fermented)
- CO₂ or temperature spikes
- Tarp loosening or wind-flapping
- Water pooling around the pad or under tarps
- Crusting or heating at surface or sidewalls
Grain Elevator and Processing Society champions, connects and serves the global grain industry and its members. Be sure to visit GEAPS’ website to learn how you can grow your network, support your personal professional development, and advance your career. Thank you for listening to another episode of GEAPS’ Whole Grain podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (00:00):
Into focus early.
Then they find proven expertiseto deliver smarter project
solutions with no high targetcosts and timelines and full
transparency and accountability.
That's how every project stayson track because a better way
leads to lower costs.
But more at TeprojectSolutions.com.
Harvest season often puts greatfacilities to the test, and in
(00:25):
certain years, storage spaceruns out fast.
That's when temporary storagebecomes more than a backup plan,
it becomes a lifeline.
But as many operators know,using temporary storage can be a
high reward, high-risk strategyif the system isn't properly
prepared.
In this episode of the WholeGreat Podcast, you'll hear
practical insights from someonewho has lived in portable for
(00:46):
four decades.
Industry veteran Bob Marlowejoins us to adapt what it really
takes to make temporary storagework without sacrificing great
quality and safety bottom linefrom essential clinics,
defective costs to the lusts, orthe hard way.
This conversation shines thelight on what separates
successful temporary storagefrom cost to the state.
And just like recent episodes,we'll wrap up with reflection
(01:08):
questions back to your team tohelp you access your home
facilities ready before pilotsgo down.
Stay tuned.
Hello and welcome to the show.
Welcome to the Whole GrainPodcast.
We use this platform to explorethe people, innovations, and
trends shaping the grainhandling and processing
industry.
The whole grain show bringsgrain professionals like you
(01:30):
together from more than 90countries around the world.
My name is Jim Lenz, your hostand the Director of Global
Education and Training inChiefs, where the mission of the
Grain Elevator and ProcessingSociety is to champion, connect,
and serve the global grainindustry and our members.
Today we're diving into a topicthat becomes especially
important as Harvest approachestemporary storage.
(01:51):
Whether your facility uses itas a strategic tool every year
or only in emergency situations,this episode will help you
think critically about thepreparation, planning, and
management it requires.
We'll cover the pros and cons,grain quality risks, lessons
learned from the field, and thenew technologies and best
practices helping operatorsprotect their pilots and be sure
(02:12):
to listen through to the endfor those reflection questions
to turn today's insights intomeaningful action for you and
your team.
All that and more coming upnext.
Thank you, Jim.
(02:39):
I appreciate the opportunity tobe with you here today.
Thank you.
It's an honor to have you withus.
We've spent more than fourdecades working across some of
the areas of the green industry.
Before we dive into today'stopic, could you share a bit
about your background and alsowhat's kept you passionate about
this field for so many years?
Bob Marlow (02:59):
Well, thanks.
You know, that I guess I'll goback to I was raised on a farm
in Northwest Ohio.
So agriculture has been justpart of my kind of part of my
system, you know, my blood,right?
And in my later years, uh afterI graduated from high school, I
attended a uh local juniorcollege and received a two-year
associate's degree in agbusiness.
(03:21):
And during that time frame,while I was going to school, I
started working for theAndersons in Maumee, Ohio.
And I worked in a part-timeseasonal position.
And after graduation, you know,I was looking for a full-time
job, right?
And I made an application anduh was fortunate to get a
full-time job, and it's the lastapplication that I filled out.
(03:41):
Uh, 44 years later, I retired.
But in between, there was justa lot of uh great experiences.
The company was uh growingalmost by leaps and bounds, you
know, we were buildingfacilities and so many
opportunities.
So I was very fortunate to bewith a great company that, you
know, there were lots ofopportunities.
(04:02):
And I, of course, you know,growing up on the farm and being
part of agriculture, it justseemed like a natural for me to
uh continue on.
I spent uh about 12 or 13 yearsin what they called their
services department, which wasmaintenance and engineering and
construction.
So I did a lot of that type ofwork for 12 or 13 years before I
(04:22):
actually jumped into grainoperations.
And so the last 30 years or soI spent in grain operations
themselves at small facilitiesfrom small country elevators up
to large terminal elevators withuh varying levels of
accountability and jobresponsibility.
So it was just a greatopportunity and a great time to
(04:43):
be part of the of the agbusiness.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (04:46):
Awesome.
Thank you for sharing.
It's clear you've seen justabout everything there is to see
in this business, which is whyI'm excited to explore a topic
that's increasingly importantduring harvest temporary
storage.
So let's start with the bigpicture, Bob.
For someone new to grainoperations, why does temporary
(05:07):
storage matter so much?
And when do facilitiestypically find themselves
relying on it?
Bob Marlow (05:14):
That's a great question.
So before I delve into thatjust a little bit, I want to
kind of build a little bit of aframework around the word
temporary storage.
Okay.
I tend to think of it, and I'mnot trying to change the topic
here, but tend to think of it asnot as contemporary or not as
traditional storage.
Okay.
And even within temporarystorage, you have a range from
(05:37):
emergency storage, which issomething that, you know, as we
talked maybe before, things likea train doesn't show up or a
barge doesn't show up on time,or you have some kind of a major
problem at the facility whereyou can't use your traditional,
that that's emergency, where itgoes out, it stays out for a
short amount of time, usuallymaybe weeks, maybe a couple
(05:59):
months, depending on weatherconditions.
Okay.
But then temporary storage, asit seems to have developed over
the many years, and I've beensince the early 80s, uh, I kind
of jokingly say I have 30-someyears of experience or 40-some
years of experience in grainoperations, but at the same
time, I have 31-year experienceson temporary storage, each one
(06:24):
being a little bit differentevery year because of weather
conditions and crops and soforth.
So, first I'll just kind of putthat framework out there.
But temporary storage in theindustry, it's really a big part
of it because it I would sayright up front, it provides the
avenue to store grains, usuallythat come in maybe at harvest
time when you don't have enoughstorage, uh, fixed storage to
(06:46):
handle those.
And at a time when you can, youknow, you don't have to make a
large investment.
Okay.
Uh not nearly the investmentthat you're going to make if
you're going to put up a steeltank or concrete storage.
So temporary storage typicallyhas has it doesn't, um, doesn't
cost as much, so not putting upas much capital up front, you
know.
Um and in many cases, uh,temporary storage is also
(07:10):
regulated.
In many cases, most statesregulate licensing of that
storage space.
So we'll talk about that later,but that's something that the
temporary storage typically hasto be picked up uh off the
ground and brought back into thefacility, generally within five
to six months versus your otherstorage that can stay out
(07:32):
longer.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (07:33):
That's uh great framing of first of all
emergency storage and then alsotemporary storage.
And compared to permanentstorage, what do you see, Bob,
as the biggest advantages andthe biggest drawbacks on relying
on temporary solutions?
Bob Marlow (07:50):
Yeah.
Well, certainly temporarystorage gives you uh a little
more flexibility in that you caneither use it, right, in a
particular year, or it may setunused because of maybe crop
conditions or markets,whatever's going on in the
marketplace.
But one of the biggestadvantages is the capital
(08:12):
investment that a company wouldhave to make, where maybe
traditional storage, uh andthese are numbers, they they
just vary all over, but youknow, traditional storage may
cost three, five, seven, ten,fifteen, twenty dollars a bushel
in cases of some concrete andso forth.
Whereas temporary storage mightbe in cents per bushel, you
(08:33):
know, fifty cents per bushel, orso so there's a big investment
uh difference there, you know.
And so when you're looking atreturn on investment, that
temporary storage has a a bigadvantage over your traditional
uh storage structure.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (08:47):
So yeah, there's a big appeal there.
Bob Marlow (08:52):
Yep.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (08:54):
And the biggest drawbacks again on relying on
temporary solutions.
Bob Marlow (08:58):
Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Well you know, the biggestdrawbacks uh are is that you
typically have more variableexpenses that are reoccurring
year after year.
An example might be the thetarps or the covering that you
use on the on a on a storetemporary storage, they may have
to be replaced every year.
(09:20):
Um the cost of maybe additionalmachinery and labor to build or
to put out these temporarystorage structures and also to
to bring them back in.
Okay.
Um and of course, one of thethings we'll talk about later uh
as it relates there is thequality and the monitoring and
your ability to manage that, thelogistics of it can really can
(09:44):
set apart you know traditionalstorage from temporary.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (09:47):
So let's talk about readiness now.
When a facility is planning touse temporary storage, what are
the first things they need toget right from a structural or
you know design standpoint?
Bob Marlow (10:01):
Yeah.
Uh first thing I would say isright on the top of the list is
is securing um you know approvalfrom your licensing agency,
right?
For instance, in the state ofIndiana, you'd go to the Indiana
Department of Ag and apply forpermit to put out temporary
storage.
Okay.
And you'd want that to havethat in place before you ever
(10:23):
start moving the process.
And then it's really a functionof of planning.
Of uh, you know, I'll I'll justkind of go down through you,
you you know, there's so manysteps, but it's it's not a whole
lot different for temporarystorage than it is for
permanent.
And in some cases, it evenrequires more planning because
of its where where its locationcould be or or whatever.
(10:44):
So there's so many things thatyou know you have to you have to
take into consideration (10:49):
tarps, pads, aeration.
Will you have aeration?
What will you have some type ofmonitoring?
What type of utilities areavailable?
What site are you going to use?
Site preparation is a bigthing.
Um I'll share a story later,but you have to make sure that
you don't have, you know, you'renot trying to build this
(11:10):
temporary storage over a powerline right-of-way or underneath
a power line right-of-way orother utilities, um, that you
don't have a county tile that'srunning through that piece of
property that all of a suddenyou find out that you can't
build on top of it.
Um and do you have access toutilities?
What about the electrical forthe fans and neighbors permits?
(11:34):
Some counties, some may requirepermits to operate out there.
There's so many things thathave to be taken into effect,
not including the timing itselffor preparation of the pad and
location and drainage, and it'severything you have to do for
contemporary storage, but it canbe because of the space that's
(11:56):
generally involved in puttingthese up, it it could be um a
much bigger project.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (12:02):
There's a lot to get right.
Bob Marlow (12:04):
Excuse me.
Yes, a lot to get right, andand all it takes is just a
little bit to be off.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (12:10):
Yeah, yeah, a lot to get right preparing the
system.
So now let's shift a little bittowards day-to-day operations
and what it takes.
What are some key safety ormaintenance practices that
facilities sometimes overlook?
Bob Marlow (12:24):
Right.
Well, on a day-to-day basis,you know, I would say right up
near the top of it is monitoringas best you can the condition
of the pile, the physicalcondition, if you have fences,
of keeping the tarps, thecovering, whatever type of
covering you have, keeping thosetight.
Um, you know, the monitoring,if if you have the ability to
(12:46):
monitor using either CO2monitoring or temperature
monitoring, some use those,which is a good thing to do,
right?
That type of monitoring.
Safety issues, I'll speak butfrom the Midwest, where you have
snow and ice, those structurescan have a large buildup of snow
and ice on those that couldcome sliding off of the tarp
(13:06):
structures and and you know,strike employees.
Safety is from falls, whereemployees, while they're
building you know, slips andfalls, while they're building
the the structures or after it'sbuilt, then you have to go
around and maybe tighten thetarps up and so forth.
So there's uh they they havetheir own unique set of safety
things that you really need totake close monitoring of,
(13:29):
particularly if you have winterconditions that you have to deal
with.
So, you know, cables, forinstance, some operators put
cables around the the uh fencesto keep the kind of help hold
them together.
Well, then that could present arisk to someone when they're
possibly working in the area anda cable clamp gives gets loose.
So there's just there's a lotof safety things that you need
(13:51):
to take care of, but basicallylooking for rips and tears in
the tarps to make sure thatthey're tight and snug, the fans
are operating.
Um, those are those are some ofthe day-to-day monitoring type
of issues that you you shouldreally zero in on.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (14:07):
You mentioned to me earlier uh grain quality
is the biggest deal when itcomes to temporary storage, even
more than structure or setup.
Why is that?
Bob Marlow (14:18):
Well, grain quality, while it's you know important
in all storage structures, uh,with outdoor storage, temporary
storage, there are additionalchallenges.
Typically speaking, uh moststorage temporary storage
structures have a flexiblemembrane, a tarp that goes over
the the that covers up thegrain, and they have fans either
(14:42):
around the perimeter or in somecases in a center tower that
pull air in and hold a negativeto keep the tarps in place.
Okay.
Well, as you know, we don'thave control of weather
conditions.
And I'll use this as anexample.
In January in the Midwest,normally your temperatures might
(15:02):
be 15, 20, 30 degrees, but allof a sudden a warm front comes
through and it's 55 or 60degrees out, right?
The fans are on running tryingto hold the tarps in place, the
storm goes through, you know.
The worst case is that you losepower, right?
Now there's nothing to hold thetarps in place, and the tarps
(15:24):
blow off, and then you get, youknow, it's exposed to the to the
to the environment.
That's just one thing to beaware of that that has a
challenge from a grain qualitystandpoint.
Also, from a grain qualitystandpoint, you know, grains are
a living organism, so they'resensitive to both moisture and
temperature.
So the introduction ofadditional moisture that could
(15:48):
take place by running the fanscontinuously, pulling air in to
hold the tarps in place couldre-introduce moisture that you
don't want, you know, withinthat grain mass, causing
possibly molds to start growingagain, insect infestations.
They're just more difficult andthey require a different
(16:09):
mindset to manage thosedifferently than you might uh
typical, you know, content ortraditional storage.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (16:15):
That's a powerful point, Bob, because
once those problems start,they're hard to stop.
What are some proactive stepsoperators can take early on to
reduce those risks?
Bob Marlow (16:26):
Well, let's just look at the fan operation once
as a good example of somethingto take a look at.
You could invest in standbygenerators or a standby
generator system that wouldallow you to keep some fans
running to hold the tarps inplace so you don't, you know, in
that instance, you don't havethat.
It's an investment up front,but it is one that could pay
(16:49):
dividends, particularly if youhappen to be in a storm-prone
area.
The other that I would highlyrecommend would be uh
controllers that you wouldinstall that would actually
operate the fans based on windspeed.
Some operators that I've talkedto over the years, they fill
their temporary storage, theypull their tarps on, they turn
(17:10):
the fans on, and they walk away.
And the fans are running 24hours a day, seven days a week
for whatever that time frame isthat the grain's out there.
And the reason is the fear is,and you don't want to lose the
tarps, right?
You want to hold the tarps inplace.
Well, that's also an expensiveprocess of running the fans all
that time.
And during that time, you haveto, as I said before, keep in
(17:32):
mind that you're pulling inpossibly air that you don't want
that's laden with moisture andthose types of things, that
could cause issues.
So by using controllers, youcould, based on wind speed, you
could only run fans when thewinds are such that you couldn't
keep your tarps in place, ifyou know what I mean.
And then when it's not windyout, the fans are off.
(17:55):
And once you've kind of cooledyour grain mass down, you want
to keep it cool.
You don't want to be warming itback up and introducing
moisture and temperature to it.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (18:03):
So let's talk about the real costs.
I know whole grain podcastlisteners, many of them are
working at facilities, maybethere are vendors and suppliers
too, of course, who are thinkingabout making investments in
temporary storage, or some ofthem have done that.
And let's talk about cost.
That's another big piece ofthis puzzle.
(18:26):
What are some of the hidden ormaybe a better word is often
overlooked costs that come withtemporary storage?
Bob Marlow (18:34):
Right.
I would suggest that anoperator who has temporary
storage that they develop someform of a system to track these
type of costs.
But typically you would havecosts, reoccurring costs every
year, for instance, maybe forpad preparation, where you have
to go out and do some blacktopwork or concrete work where you
(18:57):
know that would be exceptionalcosts that you might not have
with traditional storage.
Aeration fans and aerationtubes.
Um that's a cost that you needto take into effect because
sometimes during the reclaim ofthe grain, those those tubes get
damaged and have to bereplaced.
Um the electric costs tooperate fans, fill systems, and
(19:21):
so forth, uh, and other variablecosts.
It's been my experience thatyou have a significant amount of
labor that's involved in theseprocesses, you know, to not just
build the pile, but also topull the tarps back up in place
and you know, remove the tarpsand do sampling and many of the
things that you would do on anormal, you know, uh in a normal
(19:45):
facility where you're regulartanks and so forth, you can
easily pull samples out of thebottom.
Most temporary storage systemsdon't have that kind of ability.
So tracking the cost of howmuch you know, the uh the money
that you might wrap up in pestcontrol, right?
Not only just for, let's say,animals like deer and so forth
(20:07):
that could, you know, get aroundit, but also pests, insects,
and and the cost of uh they'revery difficult to fumigate,
unlike a traditional structure.
So those could be uh reallyadditional costs.
Uh there's a lot of uh thingsthat I think you have to take
into consideration risk andtrying to manage that, that uh
(20:28):
mitigate those risks.
So but there's a lot of costs,and they're variable and they
typically repeat year afteryear, okay, which is a little
bit different than you wouldhave with traditional storage.
So keeping track of those costshelps you determine on a
year-to-year basis on whetherit's economical to even use that
temporary storage.
(20:48):
Okay.
I've had instances where themarket is basically dictating to
you how long you might keepthat grain out on the storage
pad.
But if you have, you know, youhave a lot of expenses to put it
out and bring it back in, itmay not be worth it to use it at
all.
You know what I'm saying?
So tracking those costs givesyou the ability to make
(21:10):
judgment, to make decisions onwhether it that's the that's the
where you want to put yourcommodities at.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (21:17):
That's interesting commentary.
Thanks, Bob.
Uh that's maybe it makes methink, Bob, how should
facilities weigh those costsagainst investing in more
permanent storage solutions?
Is there a point where the mathjust doesn't make sense
anymore?
Bob Marlow (21:32):
Well, there could be, certainly.
I mean, I know many, manyoperators that are very
successful at managing theirtemporary space.
Okay.
Uh, and they've been successfulfor a number of years.
And I think part of that, andwhen I looked at those
organizations and where Iworked, I thought we were good
at managing that space.
Now, did we have were those,were there a was there a year
(21:55):
that it didn't work out so well?
Okay.
But the the final analysis Ijust think comes down to when
you're trying to make thisdecision on what you're going to
do, you have to weigh theseshort-term investments against
the long-term, and also then allthese variable costs that come
into play every year.
Um and and and put that in theequation along with the quality.
(22:19):
Did you uh you know sometimesum it it happens where there's
some some things that you can'tcontrol as well on these large
temporary structures, and youhave a damage problem or
whatever that might be, thatcould cause a significant
financial impact to the company,not just short term, but long
term.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (22:38):
So I want to see if you're willing to share
some lessons from the field.
With uh all your years in theindustry, I'm sure you've seen
temporary storage done well andnot so well.
Could you share an example of asuccess story where it all kind
of came together?
Bob Marlow (22:54):
Sure.
Uh, you know, I know I know, asI mentioned, I know many
operators that have invested intemporary storage and continue
to use their storage.
And what they did was is theymade a commitment up front to do
alcohol, would do the rightthing when they were building
it.
Okay.
Uh, you know, they made surethe pad was good and solid and
(23:17):
well sloped so water wouldn'tdrain.
They they they they invested inin adequate aeration systems.
Some of them even went so faras to invest in grain cleaners
to clean the grain prior togoing out to storage right there
near the pile.
Uh many have invested in thetechnologies of CO2 monitoring
(23:37):
and temperature monitoring andfan control.
So those those type ofinvestments, while um they're
not cheap, okay, the they thoughthose those type of investments
can pay dividends long term.
And there's there's many casesof that, many, many operators uh
that have done thatsuccessfully.
(23:58):
We did that, you know, we wemanaged, tried to manage those
piles as best we could from aquality standpoint.
We we kept track of thequality, so we had a very good
idea of of what what what we putout on the pile or on the st on
the storage structure and whatwe brought back in, you know.
And you know, really it's it'sa function of risk mitigation,
(24:21):
it's a function of gettingeveryone within the organization
from the top down committed tothe use of that and and
understanding that it is alittle bit different business
than just your traditionalstorage structures.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (24:37):
Nice.
Thanks for sharing, Bob.
On the flip side, is there astory that still sticks with you
as a lesson learned the hardway?
Bob Marlow (24:45):
Oh, yes, yes.
You know, and I it I've I had afew of them over the years, uh,
but um, and I'll share withthis one rather quickly, and and
I'll and I'll tie it back toI've talked about CO2
monitoring, but I'll tie it backto that in its in its uh
entirety.
We were building a storage at afacility, and um of course we
(25:06):
we can't control the weather,okay, and we were running out of
space, so we started buildingthe temporary storage.
It had been used off and onover the years.
Um but as we were building it,it started raining.
And it rained, it seemed likealmost every day.
Okay, but we couldn't not putgrain out there simply because
(25:28):
of space considerations.
All right.
So almost every day we got alittle bit of rain on this, and
eventually we were we had thestructure done.
This was one that I was excuseme, a cover on last.
So you didn't put the cover onuntil you couldn't put the cover
on until it was completelybuilt.
And needless to say, uh, withina few weeks, uh, even less than
(25:50):
that, you could smell, youcould walk around the outside of
the fan, you could smell thatthere was something going on,
uh, you know, that kind of soursmell.
And and uh uh so I started uhwe'd been kind of playing with
CO2 monitoring and doing some ofthis.
Was this was in the early 90s,um, and Purdue was working with
(26:10):
us on this, and so I starteddoing some CO2 sensing, and we
had levels that were just kindof off the charts.
Um and and that that alone uhhelped us to make a decision
that we needed to pick that pileup almost immediately.
So here we were in the middleof harvest, and we were not only
(26:30):
trying to handle the inboundreceipts coming from the farm
and other elevators, but at thesame time we were reclaiming
this pile and bringing it backinto the elevator.
And and then later on we putanother pile back out.
But just it was it was it was avery challenging time, and
without without sharing a lot ofnumbers, if anyone listening to
(26:52):
this would know it went out asnumber one corn and it came back
sample grade, and in just ashort amount of time, that's how
quickly things can happen.
So it it's just uh it's justone of those uh things that
sticks with you, and and eveneven today it makes my makes me
a little nervous just thinkingabout it.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (27:10):
So thanks for sharing, Bob.
Wow, that's that's good to havethat uh shared with everybody
and all our listeners becausethere's so much interest in
this.
And just I'm curious how uh howusing uh your great wealth of
experience, how is temporarystorage evolving?
(27:31):
I mean, are there newtechnologies, methods, or best
practices that are making iteasier to manage today than it
was, let's say, 10 or 20 yearsago?
Bob Marlow (27:40):
I think so.
I think the uh you you see moreuh operators embracing and
using, for instance, I'vementioned it several times, CO2
technology, which really uhgives you some indication of
what's going on inside of thatgrain mass.
Uh CO2 technology, fancontrollers, uh wireless
connections, where I'm notfamiliar with all of the systems
(28:05):
that are out there, but thereare ones that are, you know, are
have the connectivity to Wi-Fiand to the internet, and you can
manage things, you know,basically setting it home almost
and do those things.
I know that there's been uh afair amount of work going into
aeration and the design of theaeration to better uh cool and
(28:27):
try to maintain the grain mass.
For many years, originally thefans were basically there just
to kind of hold the tarps inplace.
And so I see some operatorsthat are paying close attention,
more closely being tuned intothat.
So um there's probably othersout there, but but those in
particular can on the and and itreally impacts the grain
(28:49):
quality side probably the most.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (28:50):
So yeah, yeah, thanks for sharing.
So there's monitoring tech,better aeration solutions.
Do you see improved tarps overthe years?
Bob Marlow (29:00):
Tarps have changed.
Uh we we've seen where uh thevery early years the tarps were
were heavy vinyl tarps that werevery heavy and hard to manage,
and they had so many seams, youknow, the bolded seams were many
of the style in the earlyyears.
Now you see many of them arelarge pieces that are sewn
together.
(29:21):
Uh, and there's evencontractors that will come in
and and install those tarps onyour piles for you if you don't
have the manpower.
So there's been a change inthat in particular.
Um I I'm not I'm not keyed intosome of the if there's newer
tarp styles out there.
Many, many have gone to whatI'll call cover on first.
And really what that involvesis is having a cover over the
(29:45):
structure so that when you'refilling the grain, it's always
underneath the tarps.
Okay.
And so it's not exposed toweather conditions during the
building of the of the of thepile.
Many operators have gone tothat style.
versus the cover on last whereyou're building the pile and you
can't you don't put the coverson until you're all done, which
(30:07):
might be, you know, a week, tendays, depending on how fast
you're going out there or thesize of the pile, it could be a
significant amount of time thatthe grain is exposed to uh
weather conditions.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (30:16):
So great uh feedback.
Thank you.
Bob, I'm curious, do you thinkwe'll see even more facilities
using temporary storage in thefuture?
Or will the industry shift backtoward permanent solutions?
Bob Marlow (30:32):
Well, of course it it's going to come down to
generally it's return oninvestment and and money and and
how much it costs to to dothese things.
I know of I know of a number ofoperators that have uh taken
their temporary storage outaltogether and have put up you
know steel tanks and concreteand so forth to replace those
simply because they had somerather uh sizable losses that
(30:57):
they you know they incurred withwith the temporary storage.
I think you're gonna continueto see its use.
You know there's all forms ofit out there but but I think
you're gonna continue to see itsuse because it it'll still play
a part in the industry.
It's a judgment that you haveto make when you're getting
ready to to add storage if it'sgoing to be permanent or fixed
(31:20):
and or it's temporary I shouldsay.
So what it's it's really Ibelieve it's here to stay and
maybe technologies will allow usto better control quality and
so forth that that's that's outthere.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (31:35):
Thank you.
If you had to give operators ashort checklist before harvest
just a few key points to to makesure their temporary storage is
ready what would be on it.
Bob Marlow (31:49):
Well uh first and foremost I would go back to an
acronym that's been used manytimes in the industry that was
developed by some folks atPurdue University called SLAM S
L A M.
Okay.
Which really stands forsanitize clean is the S.
The L is load level core A isaerate and and M is maintain or
(32:15):
monitor right and and thosethose if you start with that S
part the the preparation side ofensuring that your pad is clean
and ready for service and thatthere's no leftover grains when
you're getting ready to buildthis that you keep in mind that
you may not want to use the samemoisture levels that you might
(32:37):
put in in more traditionalstorage you may not want to use
that out on a out on a temporarystorage.
But following those principlesI think is is where you really
need to start and just to makesure that you've kind of checked
all those boxes off and and bebe prepared and plan.
Planning is you know once it'sthere okay you have to plan on
(32:59):
what you're going to do and withthe timing on when you're going
to build it when the logisticswork you know how does that fit
with your facility how does itfit with your merchandising plan
you know all those thingscombined I I think uh planning
is is is the number one thing inthe in the process.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (33:16):
And finally Bob if you could leave our
listeners with one piece ofadvice about balancing cost
safety and grain quality when itcomes to temporary storage what
would that be?
Bob Marlow (33:29):
I would say do your planning look at the the
benefits of of temporary storageuh take a you know it it plays
a part in our agriculture andour business and weigh that
against the cost of morepermanent storage and make sure
that you take you know take alook at all those I'll say
(33:50):
hidden costs that you may notsee if in a traditional facility
make sure you you take a lookat those costs and the impacts
that it can have on yourfacility and make sure that it
fits your facility.
And it works with the rest ofthe operation.
(34:14):
Okay.
Not just more storage just forthe simple stake sake of more
storage but that it it it fitslogistically with how you can
manage your facility.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (34:25):
Fantastic and you shared some of those hidden
costs but temporary storagethere's a lot a lot of interest
in this so you've given thissome complete thought and
thorough investigation youshared this with our podcast
listeners so very appreciativeof this as I know a lot of ears
will be listening to thisepisode on this topic.
I mean Bob it's a fantasticconversation thank you so much
(34:49):
for sharing your decades ofinsights with us and we look
forward to having you lead someof our Jeeps and K-State
programs our in-person programsso thank you for that.
I'll leave some informationabout that as well but really
appreciate you taking time tospend some time with our whole
grain podcast listeners.
Thank you.
Bob Marlow (35:09):
Thank you Jim I appreciate it and I hope that
you know there's maybe just apiece of maybe what we talked
about today that somebody cantake back to their facility or
take with them that helps themin the management of their grain
storage.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (35:23):
Yes absolutely so kind thank you thank you that
wraps up today's episode of theJeeps Whole Grain podcast.
A big thank you to Bob Marlowefor joining us and sharing his
decades of experience andhard-earned wisdom on managing
temporary storage effectively.
As we've heard today temporarystorage can provide flexibility
(35:44):
and cost advantages but it alsorequires planning discipline and
a proactive approach.
Grain quality safety andlogistics can shift quickly in
these environments and successoften comes down to preparation,
monitoring and having the rightsystems in place I'd like to
leave you with a few questionsto reflect on and perhaps
discuss with your team first onewhen was the last time we
(36:06):
reviewed or updated ourtemporary storage plan?
Are we confident it's ready fornext harvest?
This harvest?
What steps are we taking orcould we take to better protect
grain quality in piles?
Think about moisture, molds,insects, myotoxins, shrink and
damage third question how do wecurrently account for the true
costs of temporary storage?
(36:27):
Are there areas where hidden orrecurring costs may be slipping
through?
And finally what warning signsor red flags should our team be
watching for during storage andhow will we respond quickly to
prevent losses?
Remember Jeeps offers resourcesto help you grow, strengthen
your operations and stay ahead,including more than 25 online
(36:48):
and on-demand courses, hands ontraining with our Jeeps K State
programs, a searchable libraryof over 200 industry videos,
interactive webinars, our nextgen path program for interns and
early career professionals, aglobally recognized
credentialing program, a digitalgrain glossary, and local Jeeps
chapters for maintenance daysand networking.
(37:09):
And of course don't miss JeepsExchange, the industry's premier
event visit Jeeps.com toexplore more ways to learn, grow
and connect.
I'm Jim Lenz, Director ofGlobal Education and Training at
Jeeps.
Thanks for listening and untilnext time, keep feeding fueling
and clothing the world
Into focus early.
Then they find proven expertiseto deliver smarter project
solutions with no high targetcosts and timelines and full
transparency and accountability.
That's how every project stayson track because a better way
leads to lower costs.
But more at TeprojectSolutions.com.
Harvest season often puts greatfacilities to the test, and in
(00:25):
certain years, storage spaceruns out fast.
That's when temporary storagebecomes more than a backup plan,
it becomes a lifeline.
But as many operators know,using temporary storage can be a
high reward, high-risk strategyif the system isn't properly
prepared.
In this episode of the WholeGreat Podcast, you'll hear
practical insights from someonewho has lived in portable for
(00:46):
four decades.
Industry veteran Bob Marlowejoins us to adapt what it really
takes to make temporary storagework without sacrificing great
quality and safety bottom linefrom essential clinics,
defective costs to the lusts, orthe hard way.
This conversation shines thelight on what separates
successful temporary storagefrom cost to the state.
And just like recent episodes,we'll wrap up with reflection
(01:08):
questions back to your team tohelp you access your home
facilities ready before pilotsgo down.
Stay tuned.
Hello and welcome to the show.
Welcome to the Whole GrainPodcast.
We use this platform to explorethe people, innovations, and
trends shaping the grainhandling and processing
industry.
The whole grain show bringsgrain professionals like you
(01:30):
together from more than 90countries around the world.
My name is Jim Lenz, your hostand the Director of Global
Education and Training inChiefs, where the mission of the
Grain Elevator and ProcessingSociety is to champion, connect,
and serve the global grainindustry and our members.
Today we're diving into a topicthat becomes especially
important as Harvest approachestemporary storage.
(01:51):
Whether your facility uses itas a strategic tool every year
or only in emergency situations,this episode will help you
think critically about thepreparation, planning, and
management it requires.
We'll cover the pros and cons,grain quality risks, lessons
learned from the field, and thenew technologies and best
practices helping operatorsprotect their pilots and be sure
(02:12):
to listen through to the endfor those reflection questions
to turn today's insights intomeaningful action for you and
your team.
All that and more coming upnext.
Thank you, Jim.
(02:39):
I appreciate the opportunity tobe with you here today.
Thank you.
It's an honor to have you withus.
We've spent more than fourdecades working across some of
the areas of the green industry.
Before we dive into today'stopic, could you share a bit
about your background and alsowhat's kept you passionate about
this field for so many years?
Bob Marlow (02:59):
Well, thanks.
You know, that I guess I'll goback to I was raised on a farm
in Northwest Ohio.
So agriculture has been justpart of my kind of part of my
system, you know, my blood,right?
And in my later years, uh afterI graduated from high school, I
attended a uh local juniorcollege and received a two-year
associate's degree in agbusiness.
(03:21):
And during that time frame,while I was going to school, I
started working for theAndersons in Maumee, Ohio.
And I worked in a part-timeseasonal position.
And after graduation, you know,I was looking for a full-time
job, right?
And I made an application anduh was fortunate to get a
full-time job, and it's the lastapplication that I filled out.
(03:41):
Uh, 44 years later, I retired.
But in between, there was justa lot of uh great experiences.
The company was uh growingalmost by leaps and bounds, you
know, we were buildingfacilities and so many
opportunities.
So I was very fortunate to bewith a great company that, you
know, there were lots ofopportunities.
(04:02):
And I, of course, you know,growing up on the farm and being
part of agriculture, it justseemed like a natural for me to
uh continue on.
I spent uh about 12 or 13 yearsin what they called their
services department, which wasmaintenance and engineering and
construction.
So I did a lot of that type ofwork for 12 or 13 years before I
(04:22):
actually jumped into grainoperations.
And so the last 30 years or soI spent in grain operations
themselves at small facilitiesfrom small country elevators up
to large terminal elevators withuh varying levels of
accountability and jobresponsibility.
So it was just a greatopportunity and a great time to
(04:43):
be part of the of the agbusiness.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (04:46):
Awesome.
Thank you for sharing.
It's clear you've seen justabout everything there is to see
in this business, which is whyI'm excited to explore a topic
that's increasingly importantduring harvest temporary
storage.
So let's start with the bigpicture, Bob.
For someone new to grainoperations, why does temporary
(05:07):
storage matter so much?
And when do facilitiestypically find themselves
relying on it?
Bob Marlow (05:14):
That's a great question.
So before I delve into thatjust a little bit, I want to
kind of build a little bit of aframework around the word
temporary storage.
Okay.
I tend to think of it, and I'mnot trying to change the topic
here, but tend to think of it asnot as contemporary or not as
traditional storage.
Okay.
And even within temporarystorage, you have a range from
(05:37):
emergency storage, which issomething that, you know, as we
talked maybe before, things likea train doesn't show up or a
barge doesn't show up on time,or you have some kind of a major
problem at the facility whereyou can't use your traditional,
that that's emergency, where itgoes out, it stays out for a
short amount of time, usuallymaybe weeks, maybe a couple
(05:59):
months, depending on weatherconditions.
Okay.
But then temporary storage, asit seems to have developed over
the many years, and I've beensince the early 80s, uh, I kind
of jokingly say I have 30-someyears of experience or 40-some
years of experience in grainoperations, but at the same
time, I have 31-year experienceson temporary storage, each one
(06:24):
being a little bit differentevery year because of weather
conditions and crops and soforth.
So, first I'll just kind of putthat framework out there.
But temporary storage in theindustry, it's really a big part
of it because it I would sayright up front, it provides the
avenue to store grains, usuallythat come in maybe at harvest
time when you don't have enoughstorage, uh, fixed storage to
(06:46):
handle those.
And at a time when you can, youknow, you don't have to make a
large investment.
Okay.
Uh not nearly the investmentthat you're going to make if
you're going to put up a steeltank or concrete storage.
So temporary storage typicallyhas has it doesn't, um, doesn't
cost as much, so not putting upas much capital up front, you
know.
Um and in many cases, uh,temporary storage is also
(07:10):
regulated.
In many cases, most statesregulate licensing of that
storage space.
So we'll talk about that later,but that's something that the
temporary storage typically hasto be picked up uh off the
ground and brought back into thefacility, generally within five
to six months versus your otherstorage that can stay out
(07:32):
longer.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (07:33):
That's uh great framing of first of all
emergency storage and then alsotemporary storage.
And compared to permanentstorage, what do you see, Bob,
as the biggest advantages andthe biggest drawbacks on relying
on temporary solutions?
Bob Marlow (07:50):
Yeah.
Well, certainly temporarystorage gives you uh a little
more flexibility in that you caneither use it, right, in a
particular year, or it may setunused because of maybe crop
conditions or markets,whatever's going on in the
marketplace.
But one of the biggestadvantages is the capital
(08:12):
investment that a company wouldhave to make, where maybe
traditional storage, uh andthese are numbers, they they
just vary all over, but youknow, traditional storage may
cost three, five, seven, ten,fifteen, twenty dollars a bushel
in cases of some concrete andso forth.
Whereas temporary storage mightbe in cents per bushel, you
(08:33):
know, fifty cents per bushel, orso so there's a big investment
uh difference there, you know.
And so when you're looking atreturn on investment, that
temporary storage has a a bigadvantage over your traditional
uh storage structure.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (08:47):
So yeah, there's a big appeal there.
Bob Marlow (08:52):
Yep.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (08:54):
And the biggest drawbacks again on relying on
temporary solutions.
Bob Marlow (08:58):
Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Well you know, the biggestdrawbacks uh are is that you
typically have more variableexpenses that are reoccurring
year after year.
An example might be the thetarps or the covering that you
use on the on a on a storetemporary storage, they may have
to be replaced every year.
(09:20):
Um the cost of maybe additionalmachinery and labor to build or
to put out these temporarystorage structures and also to
to bring them back in.
Okay.
Um and of course, one of thethings we'll talk about later uh
as it relates there is thequality and the monitoring and
your ability to manage that, thelogistics of it can really can
(09:44):
set apart you know traditionalstorage from temporary.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (09:47):
So let's talk about readiness now.
When a facility is planning touse temporary storage, what are
the first things they need toget right from a structural or
you know design standpoint?
Bob Marlow (10:01):
Yeah.
Uh first thing I would say isright on the top of the list is
is securing um you know approvalfrom your licensing agency,
right?
For instance, in the state ofIndiana, you'd go to the Indiana
Department of Ag and apply forpermit to put out temporary
storage.
Okay.
And you'd want that to havethat in place before you ever
(10:23):
start moving the process.
And then it's really a functionof of planning.
Of uh, you know, I'll I'll justkind of go down through you,
you you know, there's so manysteps, but it's it's not a whole
lot different for temporarystorage than it is for
permanent.
And in some cases, it evenrequires more planning because
of its where where its locationcould be or or whatever.
(10:44):
So there's so many things thatyou know you have to you have to
take into consideration (10:49):
tarps, pads, aeration.
Will you have aeration?
What will you have some type ofmonitoring?
What type of utilities areavailable?
What site are you going to use?
Site preparation is a bigthing.
Um I'll share a story later,but you have to make sure that
you don't have, you know, you'renot trying to build this
(11:10):
temporary storage over a powerline right-of-way or underneath
a power line right-of-way orother utilities, um, that you
don't have a county tile that'srunning through that piece of
property that all of a suddenyou find out that you can't
build on top of it.
Um and do you have access toutilities?
What about the electrical forthe fans and neighbors permits?
(11:34):
Some counties, some may requirepermits to operate out there.
There's so many things thathave to be taken into effect,
not including the timing itselffor preparation of the pad and
location and drainage, and it'severything you have to do for
contemporary storage, but it canbe because of the space that's
(11:56):
generally involved in puttingthese up, it it could be um a
much bigger project.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (12:02):
There's a lot to get right.
Bob Marlow (12:04):
Excuse me.
Yes, a lot to get right, andand all it takes is just a
little bit to be off.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (12:10):
Yeah, yeah, a lot to get right preparing the
system.
So now let's shift a little bittowards day-to-day operations
and what it takes.
What are some key safety ormaintenance practices that
facilities sometimes overlook?
Bob Marlow (12:24):
Right.
Well, on a day-to-day basis,you know, I would say right up
near the top of it is monitoringas best you can the condition
of the pile, the physicalcondition, if you have fences,
of keeping the tarps, thecovering, whatever type of
covering you have, keeping thosetight.
Um, you know, the monitoring,if if you have the ability to
(12:46):
monitor using either CO2monitoring or temperature
monitoring, some use those,which is a good thing to do,
right?
That type of monitoring.
Safety issues, I'll speak butfrom the Midwest, where you have
snow and ice, those structurescan have a large buildup of snow
and ice on those that couldcome sliding off of the tarp
(13:06):
structures and and you know,strike employees.
Safety is from falls, whereemployees, while they're
building you know, slips andfalls, while they're building
the the structures or after it'sbuilt, then you have to go
around and maybe tighten thetarps up and so forth.
So there's uh they they havetheir own unique set of safety
things that you really need totake close monitoring of,
(13:29):
particularly if you have winterconditions that you have to deal
with.
So, you know, cables, forinstance, some operators put
cables around the the uh fencesto keep the kind of help hold
them together.
Well, then that could present arisk to someone when they're
possibly working in the area anda cable clamp gives gets loose.
So there's just there's a lotof safety things that you need
(13:51):
to take care of, but basicallylooking for rips and tears in
the tarps to make sure thatthey're tight and snug, the fans
are operating.
Um, those are those are some ofthe day-to-day monitoring type
of issues that you you shouldreally zero in on.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (14:07):
You mentioned to me earlier uh grain quality
is the biggest deal when itcomes to temporary storage, even
more than structure or setup.
Why is that?
Bob Marlow (14:18):
Well, grain quality, while it's you know important
in all storage structures, uh,with outdoor storage, temporary
storage, there are additionalchallenges.
Typically speaking, uh moststorage temporary storage
structures have a flexiblemembrane, a tarp that goes over
the the that covers up thegrain, and they have fans either
(14:42):
around the perimeter or in somecases in a center tower that
pull air in and hold a negativeto keep the tarps in place.
Okay.
Well, as you know, we don'thave control of weather
conditions.
And I'll use this as anexample.
In January in the Midwest,normally your temperatures might
(15:02):
be 15, 20, 30 degrees, but allof a sudden a warm front comes
through and it's 55 or 60degrees out, right?
The fans are on running tryingto hold the tarps in place, the
storm goes through, you know.
The worst case is that you losepower, right?
Now there's nothing to hold thetarps in place, and the tarps
(15:24):
blow off, and then you get, youknow, it's exposed to the to the
to the environment.
That's just one thing to beaware of that that has a
challenge from a grain qualitystandpoint.
Also, from a grain qualitystandpoint, you know, grains are
a living organism, so they'resensitive to both moisture and
temperature.
So the introduction ofadditional moisture that could
(15:48):
take place by running the fanscontinuously, pulling air in to
hold the tarps in place couldre-introduce moisture that you
don't want, you know, withinthat grain mass, causing
possibly molds to start growingagain, insect infestations.
They're just more difficult andthey require a different
(16:09):
mindset to manage thosedifferently than you might uh
typical, you know, content ortraditional storage.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (16:15):
That's a powerful point, Bob, because
once those problems start,they're hard to stop.
What are some proactive stepsoperators can take early on to
reduce those risks?
Bob Marlow (16:26):
Well, let's just look at the fan operation once
as a good example of somethingto take a look at.
You could invest in standbygenerators or a standby
generator system that wouldallow you to keep some fans
running to hold the tarps inplace so you don't, you know, in
that instance, you don't havethat.
It's an investment up front,but it is one that could pay
(16:49):
dividends, particularly if youhappen to be in a storm-prone
area.
The other that I would highlyrecommend would be uh
controllers that you wouldinstall that would actually
operate the fans based on windspeed.
Some operators that I've talkedto over the years, they fill
their temporary storage, theypull their tarps on, they turn
(17:10):
the fans on, and they walk away.
And the fans are running 24hours a day, seven days a week
for whatever that time frame isthat the grain's out there.
And the reason is the fear is,and you don't want to lose the
tarps, right?
You want to hold the tarps inplace.
Well, that's also an expensiveprocess of running the fans all
that time.
And during that time, you haveto, as I said before, keep in
(17:32):
mind that you're pulling inpossibly air that you don't want
that's laden with moisture andthose types of things, that
could cause issues.
So by using controllers, youcould, based on wind speed, you
could only run fans when thewinds are such that you couldn't
keep your tarps in place, ifyou know what I mean.
And then when it's not windyout, the fans are off.
(17:55):
And once you've kind of cooledyour grain mass down, you want
to keep it cool.
You don't want to be warming itback up and introducing
moisture and temperature to it.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (18:03):
So let's talk about the real costs.
I know whole grain podcastlisteners, many of them are
working at facilities, maybethere are vendors and suppliers
too, of course, who are thinkingabout making investments in
temporary storage, or some ofthem have done that.
And let's talk about cost.
That's another big piece ofthis puzzle.
(18:26):
What are some of the hidden ormaybe a better word is often
overlooked costs that come withtemporary storage?
Bob Marlow (18:34):
Right.
I would suggest that anoperator who has temporary
storage that they develop someform of a system to track these
type of costs.
But typically you would havecosts, reoccurring costs every
year, for instance, maybe forpad preparation, where you have
to go out and do some blacktopwork or concrete work where you
(18:57):
know that would be exceptionalcosts that you might not have
with traditional storage.
Aeration fans and aerationtubes.
Um that's a cost that you needto take into effect because
sometimes during the reclaim ofthe grain, those those tubes get
damaged and have to bereplaced.
Um the electric costs tooperate fans, fill systems, and
(19:21):
so forth, uh, and other variablecosts.
It's been my experience thatyou have a significant amount of
labor that's involved in theseprocesses, you know, to not just
build the pile, but also topull the tarps back up in place
and you know, remove the tarpsand do sampling and many of the
things that you would do on anormal, you know, uh in a normal
(19:45):
facility where you're regulartanks and so forth, you can
easily pull samples out of thebottom.
Most temporary storage systemsdon't have that kind of ability.
So tracking the cost of howmuch you know, the uh the money
that you might wrap up in pestcontrol, right?
Not only just for, let's say,animals like deer and so forth
(20:07):
that could, you know, get aroundit, but also pests, insects,
and and the cost of uh they'revery difficult to fumigate,
unlike a traditional structure.
So those could be uh reallyadditional costs.
Uh there's a lot of uh thingsthat I think you have to take
into consideration risk andtrying to manage that, that uh
(20:28):
mitigate those risks.
So but there's a lot of costs,and they're variable and they
typically repeat year afteryear, okay, which is a little
bit different than you wouldhave with traditional storage.
So keeping track of those costshelps you determine on a
year-to-year basis on whetherit's economical to even use that
temporary storage.
(20:48):
Okay.
I've had instances where themarket is basically dictating to
you how long you might keepthat grain out on the storage
pad.
But if you have, you know, youhave a lot of expenses to put it
out and bring it back in, itmay not be worth it to use it at
all.
You know what I'm saying?
So tracking those costs givesyou the ability to make
(21:10):
judgment, to make decisions onwhether it that's the that's the
where you want to put yourcommodities at.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (21:17):
That's interesting commentary.
Thanks, Bob.
Uh that's maybe it makes methink, Bob, how should
facilities weigh those costsagainst investing in more
permanent storage solutions?
Is there a point where the mathjust doesn't make sense
anymore?
Bob Marlow (21:32):
Well, there could be, certainly.
I mean, I know many, manyoperators that are very
successful at managing theirtemporary space.
Okay.
Uh, and they've been successfulfor a number of years.
And I think part of that, andwhen I looked at those
organizations and where Iworked, I thought we were good
at managing that space.
Now, did we have were those,were there a was there a year
(21:55):
that it didn't work out so well?
Okay.
But the the final analysis Ijust think comes down to when
you're trying to make thisdecision on what you're going to
do, you have to weigh theseshort-term investments against
the long-term, and also then allthese variable costs that come
into play every year.
Um and and and put that in theequation along with the quality.
(22:19):
Did you uh you know sometimesum it it happens where there's
some some things that you can'tcontrol as well on these large
temporary structures, and youhave a damage problem or
whatever that might be, thatcould cause a significant
financial impact to the company,not just short term, but long
term.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (22:38):
So I want to see if you're willing to share
some lessons from the field.
With uh all your years in theindustry, I'm sure you've seen
temporary storage done well andnot so well.
Could you share an example of asuccess story where it all kind
of came together?
Bob Marlow (22:54):
Sure.
Uh, you know, I know I know, asI mentioned, I know many
operators that have invested intemporary storage and continue
to use their storage.
And what they did was is theymade a commitment up front to do
alcohol, would do the rightthing when they were building
it.
Okay.
Uh, you know, they made surethe pad was good and solid and
(23:17):
well sloped so water wouldn'tdrain.
They they they they invested inin adequate aeration systems.
Some of them even went so faras to invest in grain cleaners
to clean the grain prior togoing out to storage right there
near the pile.
Uh many have invested in thetechnologies of CO2 monitoring
(23:37):
and temperature monitoring andfan control.
So those those type ofinvestments, while um they're
not cheap, okay, the they thoughthose those type of investments
can pay dividends long term.
And there's there's many casesof that, many, many operators uh
that have done thatsuccessfully.
(23:58):
We did that, you know, we wemanaged, tried to manage those
piles as best we could from aquality standpoint.
We we kept track of thequality, so we had a very good
idea of of what what what we putout on the pile or on the st on
the storage structure and whatwe brought back in, you know.
And you know, really it's it'sa function of risk mitigation,
(24:21):
it's a function of gettingeveryone within the organization
from the top down committed tothe use of that and and
understanding that it is alittle bit different business
than just your traditionalstorage structures.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (24:37):
Nice.
Thanks for sharing, Bob.
On the flip side, is there astory that still sticks with you
as a lesson learned the hardway?
Bob Marlow (24:45):
Oh, yes, yes.
You know, and I it I've I had afew of them over the years, uh,
but um, and I'll share withthis one rather quickly, and and
I'll and I'll tie it back toI've talked about CO2
monitoring, but I'll tie it backto that in its in its uh
entirety.
We were building a storage at afacility, and um of course we
(25:06):
we can't control the weather,okay, and we were running out of
space, so we started buildingthe temporary storage.
It had been used off and onover the years.
Um but as we were building it,it started raining.
And it rained, it seemed likealmost every day.
Okay, but we couldn't not putgrain out there simply because
(25:28):
of space considerations.
All right.
So almost every day we got alittle bit of rain on this, and
eventually we were we had thestructure done.
This was one that I was excuseme, a cover on last.
So you didn't put the cover onuntil you couldn't put the cover
on until it was completelybuilt.
And needless to say, uh, withina few weeks, uh, even less than
(25:50):
that, you could smell, youcould walk around the outside of
the fan, you could smell thatthere was something going on,
uh, you know, that kind of soursmell.
And and uh uh so I started uhwe'd been kind of playing with
CO2 monitoring and doing some ofthis.
Was this was in the early 90s,um, and Purdue was working with
(26:10):
us on this, and so I starteddoing some CO2 sensing, and we
had levels that were just kindof off the charts.
Um and and that that alone uhhelped us to make a decision
that we needed to pick that pileup almost immediately.
So here we were in the middleof harvest, and we were not only
(26:30):
trying to handle the inboundreceipts coming from the farm
and other elevators, but at thesame time we were reclaiming
this pile and bringing it backinto the elevator.
And and then later on we putanother pile back out.
But just it was it was it was avery challenging time, and
without without sharing a lot ofnumbers, if anyone listening to
(26:52):
this would know it went out asnumber one corn and it came back
sample grade, and in just ashort amount of time, that's how
quickly things can happen.
So it it's just uh it's justone of those uh things that
sticks with you, and and eveneven today it makes my makes me
a little nervous just thinkingabout it.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (27:10):
So thanks for sharing, Bob.
Wow, that's that's good to havethat uh shared with everybody
and all our listeners becausethere's so much interest in
this.
And just I'm curious how uh howusing uh your great wealth of
experience, how is temporarystorage evolving?
(27:31):
I mean, are there newtechnologies, methods, or best
practices that are making iteasier to manage today than it
was, let's say, 10 or 20 yearsago?
Bob Marlow (27:40):
I think so.
I think the uh you you see moreuh operators embracing and
using, for instance, I'vementioned it several times, CO2
technology, which really uhgives you some indication of
what's going on inside of thatgrain mass.
Uh CO2 technology, fancontrollers, uh wireless
connections, where I'm notfamiliar with all of the systems
(28:05):
that are out there, but thereare ones that are, you know, are
have the connectivity to Wi-Fiand to the internet, and you can
manage things, you know,basically setting it home almost
and do those things.
I know that there's been uh afair amount of work going into
aeration and the design of theaeration to better uh cool and
(28:27):
try to maintain the grain mass.
For many years, originally thefans were basically there just
to kind of hold the tarps inplace.
And so I see some operatorsthat are paying close attention,
more closely being tuned intothat.
So um there's probably othersout there, but but those in
particular can on the and and itreally impacts the grain
(28:49):
quality side probably the most.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (28:50):
So yeah, yeah, thanks for sharing.
So there's monitoring tech,better aeration solutions.
Do you see improved tarps overthe years?
Bob Marlow (29:00):
Tarps have changed.
Uh we we've seen where uh thevery early years the tarps were
were heavy vinyl tarps that werevery heavy and hard to manage,
and they had so many seams, youknow, the bolded seams were many
of the style in the earlyyears.
Now you see many of them arelarge pieces that are sewn
together.
(29:21):
Uh, and there's evencontractors that will come in
and and install those tarps onyour piles for you if you don't
have the manpower.
So there's been a change inthat in particular.
Um I I'm not I'm not keyed intosome of the if there's newer
tarp styles out there.
Many, many have gone to whatI'll call cover on first.
And really what that involvesis is having a cover over the
(29:45):
structure so that when you'refilling the grain, it's always
underneath the tarps.
Okay.
And so it's not exposed toweather conditions during the
building of the of the of thepile.
Many operators have gone tothat style.
versus the cover on last whereyou're building the pile and you
can't you don't put the coverson until you're all done, which
(30:07):
might be, you know, a week, tendays, depending on how fast
you're going out there or thesize of the pile, it could be a
significant amount of time thatthe grain is exposed to uh
weather conditions.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (30:16):
So great uh feedback.
Thank you.
Bob, I'm curious, do you thinkwe'll see even more facilities
using temporary storage in thefuture?
Or will the industry shift backtoward permanent solutions?
Bob Marlow (30:32):
Well, of course it it's going to come down to
generally it's return oninvestment and and money and and
how much it costs to to dothese things.
I know of I know of a number ofoperators that have uh taken
their temporary storage outaltogether and have put up you
know steel tanks and concreteand so forth to replace those
simply because they had somerather uh sizable losses that
(30:57):
they you know they incurred withwith the temporary storage.
I think you're gonna continueto see its use.
You know there's all forms ofit out there but but I think
you're gonna continue to see itsuse because it it'll still play
a part in the industry.
It's a judgment that you haveto make when you're getting
ready to to add storage if it'sgoing to be permanent or fixed
(31:20):
and or it's temporary I shouldsay.
So what it's it's really Ibelieve it's here to stay and
maybe technologies will allow usto better control quality and
so forth that that's that's outthere.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (31:35):
Thank you.
If you had to give operators ashort checklist before harvest
just a few key points to to makesure their temporary storage is
ready what would be on it.
Bob Marlow (31:49):
Well uh first and foremost I would go back to an
acronym that's been used manytimes in the industry that was
developed by some folks atPurdue University called SLAM S
L A M.
Okay.
Which really stands forsanitize clean is the S.
The L is load level core A isaerate and and M is maintain or
(32:15):
monitor right and and thosethose if you start with that S
part the the preparation side ofensuring that your pad is clean
and ready for service and thatthere's no leftover grains when
you're getting ready to buildthis that you keep in mind that
you may not want to use the samemoisture levels that you might
(32:37):
put in in more traditionalstorage you may not want to use
that out on a out on a temporarystorage.
But following those principlesI think is is where you really
need to start and just to makesure that you've kind of checked
all those boxes off and and bebe prepared and plan.
Planning is you know once it'sthere okay you have to plan on
(32:59):
what you're going to do and withthe timing on when you're going
to build it when the logisticswork you know how does that fit
with your facility how does itfit with your merchandising plan
you know all those thingscombined I I think uh planning
is is is the number one thing inthe in the process.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (33:16):
And finally Bob if you could leave our
listeners with one piece ofadvice about balancing cost
safety and grain quality when itcomes to temporary storage what
would that be?
Bob Marlow (33:29):
I would say do your planning look at the the
benefits of of temporary storageuh take a you know it it plays
a part in our agriculture andour business and weigh that
against the cost of morepermanent storage and make sure
that you take you know take alook at all those I'll say
(33:50):
hidden costs that you may notsee if in a traditional facility
make sure you you take a lookat those costs and the impacts
that it can have on yourfacility and make sure that it
fits your facility.
And it works with the rest ofthe operation.
(34:14):
Okay.
Not just more storage just forthe simple stake sake of more
storage but that it it it fitslogistically with how you can
manage your facility.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (34:25):
Fantastic and you shared some of those hidden
costs but temporary storagethere's a lot a lot of interest
in this so you've given thissome complete thought and
thorough investigation youshared this with our podcast
listeners so very appreciativeof this as I know a lot of ears
will be listening to thisepisode on this topic.
I mean Bob it's a fantasticconversation thank you so much
(34:49):
for sharing your decades ofinsights with us and we look
forward to having you lead someof our Jeeps and K-State
programs our in-person programsso thank you for that.
I'll leave some informationabout that as well but really
appreciate you taking time tospend some time with our whole
grain podcast listeners.
Thank you.
Bob Marlow (35:09):
Thank you Jim I appreciate it and I hope that
you know there's maybe just apiece of maybe what we talked
about today that somebody cantake back to their facility or
take with them that helps themin the management of their grain
storage.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (35:23):
Yes absolutely so kind thank you thank you that
wraps up today's episode of theJeeps Whole Grain podcast.
A big thank you to Bob Marlowefor joining us and sharing his
decades of experience andhard-earned wisdom on managing
temporary storage effectively.
As we've heard today temporarystorage can provide flexibility
(35:44):
and cost advantages but it alsorequires planning discipline and
a proactive approach.
Grain quality safety andlogistics can shift quickly in
these environments and successoften comes down to preparation,
monitoring and having the rightsystems in place I'd like to
leave you with a few questionsto reflect on and perhaps
discuss with your team first onewhen was the last time we
(36:06):
reviewed or updated ourtemporary storage plan?
Are we confident it's ready fornext harvest?
This harvest?
What steps are we taking orcould we take to better protect
grain quality in piles?
Think about moisture, molds,insects, myotoxins, shrink and
damage third question how do wecurrently account for the true
costs of temporary storage?
(36:27):
Are there areas where hidden orrecurring costs may be slipping
through?
And finally what warning signsor red flags should our team be
watching for during storage andhow will we respond quickly to
prevent losses?
Remember Jeeps offers resourcesto help you grow, strengthen
your operations and stay ahead,including more than 25 online
(36:48):
and on-demand courses, hands ontraining with our Jeeps K State
programs, a searchable libraryof over 200 industry videos,
interactive webinars, our nextgen path program for interns and
early career professionals, aglobally recognized
credentialing program, a digitalgrain glossary, and local Jeeps
chapters for maintenance daysand networking.
(37:09):
And of course don't miss JeepsExchange, the industry's premier
event visit Jeeps.com toexplore more ways to learn, grow
and connect.
I'm Jim Lenz, Director ofGlobal Education and Training at
Jeeps.
Thanks for listening and untilnext time, keep feeding fueling
and clothing the world
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