More Off-Farm Storage Capacity in U.S.

WASHINGTON - Jan 12/07 - SNS -- The USDA reports off-farm commercial grain storage capacity totaled 8.77 billion bushels in the United States on December 1, 2006, up 3% from December 1, 2005.

Twenty-three States showed increases in capacity from a year earlier while 13 States recorded decreases and seven States were unchanged.

States with the largest increases include Illinois, up 80.7 million bushels, Iowa, up 45.0 million bushels, Nebraska, up 42.1 million bushels, South Dakota, up 20.0 million bushels, and Minnesota, up 20.0 million bushels.

States with the largest decreases include Texas, down 10.0 million bushels, Oregon, down 9.00 million bushels, Ohio, down 7.59 million bushels, and Oklahoma, down 5.00 million bushels.

Illinois continued to lead all States in off-farm storage capacity, followed by Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Texas. These five States accounted for 52% of the Nation's off-farm storage capacity on December 1, 2006.

Off-farm grain storage capacity includes all elevators, warehouses, terminals, merchant mills, other storage, and oilseed crushers which store whole grains, soybeans, canola, flaxseed, mustard seed, safflower, sunflower, rapeseed, Austrian winter peas, dry edible peas, lentils, and chickpeas/garbanzo beans.

Capacity data exclude facilities used to store only rice or peanuts, oilseed crushers processing only cottonseed or peanuts, tobacco warehouses, seed warehouses, and storage facilities that handle only dry edible beans, other than chickpeas/garbanzo beans.

Off-farm storage facilities totaled 9,348 on December 1, 2006, down 2% from December 1, 2005. States with the largest number of facilities are Illinois, with 930, Iowa, with 910, Kansas, with 785, Minnesota, with 585, and Nebraska, with 500.

           Off-Farm Storage Facilities:  Number and Capacity by State
                   and United States, December 1, 2005-2006 1/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          :      Number of Facilities       :     Off-farm Storage Capacity
          :---------------------------------------------------------------------
   State  : Dec 1, 2005 2/ :  Dec 1, 2006   : Dec 1, 2005 2/  :   Dec 1, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
          :                                      ------ 1,000 Bushels ------
          :
AL        :        73               67              25,600            25,400
AZ        :        20               18              17,000            17,000
AR        :       175              170             228,000           233,000
CA        :       125              130             103,193           105,443
CO        :       120              121             115,000           114,000
DE        :        19               19              23,000            22,000
FL        :        23               22               6,340             6,779
GA        :       141              136              42,000            43,000
ID        :       151              152             113,000           116,000
IL        :       950              930           1,157,100         1,237,800
IN        :       410              405             366,300           372,600
IA        :       920              910           1,055,000         1,100,000
KS        :       790              785             890,000           890,000
KY        :       195              190              64,000            65,000
LA        :        32               30              95,200            98,800
MD        :        54               54              46,500            46,000
MI        :       215              211             148,000           155,000
MN        :       592              585             520,000           540,000
MS        :        78               72              64,500            65,500
MO        :       382              371             218,000           225,000
MT        :       162              164              73,990            74,710
NE        :       494              500             697,614           739,753
N ENG     :        21               21               6,305             6,305
NJ        :        14               13               2,730             2,580
NM        :        25               25              14,800            14,800
NY        :        47               48              37,706            38,152
NC        :       195              190              67,000            69,000
ND        :       345              340             255,750           262,280
OH        :       447              421             360,750           353,160
OK        :       257              251             230,000           225,000
OR        :        94               92              60,000            51,000
PA        :       175              169              31,200            31,500
SC        :        74               71              20,250            20,045
SD        :       255              251             190,000           210,000
TN        :       180              178              47,800            50,000
TX        :       450              445             640,000           630,000
UT        :        45               45              17,000            16,000
VA        :        90               89              29,488            29,465
WA        :       304              302             216,911           215,342
WI        :       330              330             233,999           240,064
WY        :        18               16               8,600             8,600
          :
Unall 3/  :         9                9                 684               684
          :
US        :     9,496            9,348           8,540,310         8,766,762
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/  Excludes AK and HI
2/  Revised.
3/  NV and WV.