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Propane shortage?

7K views 48 replies 19 participants last post by  SWMan 
#1 ·
How's everyone coming on propane? We've just approached critical levels here. If no transports my supplier is out noon tomorrow. Others ran out yesterday and one's been out 6 days, further into NE Iowa its longer with no relief.

Hours of service restrictions lifted on all propane trucks, pipe lines are too small and terminal in Des Moines just closed for maintenance (yeah really). A lot of corn to harvest in the midwest at above average moisture.

Was just curious on others scenarios.
 
#2 ·
Make sure the town folk can get their BBQ tanks re-filled fort the weekend, that would be a crisis situation if that ever happened...lol

If you get stopped up feel free to come North and sit in the dryer shack and burn some gas, the tap is always on! :wink:

Seriously though, there is obviously a lot more drying this fall than normal and maybe ever, no surprise there would be a shortage. I sense this will be what happens around here next spring with NH3 since nobody got any fertilizer on before freeze-up.
 
#3 ·
We had the NH3 debacle last spring. Could not keep it coming, allocated 2 tanks, 6 hour lines waiting to get filled. Fortunately I use very little, most my nitrogen comes out a hogs rear.

My propane supplier has transports coming out of Olathe, Kansas I believe. Don;t know how many or when they show. We're going to get shut off at some point its just a matter of time. I need a week to get done, was hoping to make it but doesn't look promising. Like standing on the trap door with the rope around your neck.
 
#4 ·
Like standing on the trap door with the rope around your neck.
C'mon, you are sounding like a drama queen now.:rolleyes:

Just gonna start corn harvest next week. If I add up mine plus all the custom work I have been asked to do we should be wrapped up sometime.....around.....Christmas! Okay, maybe Valentines day.:frown:
 
#5 ·
Give me some credit for sarcasm! I wasn't exactly implying death just making the correlation that you know what's coming just not sure when.

I can be far more dramatic if needed!
 
#6 ·
Well, it is not due to a supply shortage. Earlier this summer producers were paying midstream processors to take their propane, there was such a glut, not just nat gas, but propane. I also learned the wholesale price of propane today, the trucking to your yard is worth considerably more than the product in the truck.
 
#8 ·
There's lots going out as my one delivery driver said they exceeded their quota at the refinery and he had to wait 2 hrs to get approval to load.

No issues getting any here but I can see the flare stack from a fair sized gas plant and a dozen pumpjacks from my dryer.

At least it's a little more reasonable $ this year. $.33 /L.
 
#9 ·
Last yr Saskatchewan ran out. Guys that had contracts with Coop had 2 week waits minimum. Wheelers here never ran out. Sent trucks to alberta to pick up propane. 58 cents/L last fall and was glad to get it. Not out yet here that I am aware of but I cant imagine there not being a shortage soon. Started at 38-44 cents here this yr. Havent paid my bill yet but know from my parents paying theirs 3.1 cents on top went to Trudeau the wreckless spender.
 
#11 ·
I know more guys are drying more %points but this wasn't expected??? I cant say I was expecting super dry corn after this summer(if you could call it that)... got lucky n chopped most of the later corn and early corn was 17%. Used under 1000gal I had on hand so that was one time I did somthing right I guess...
 
#20 ·
How did you find corn under 17%? Driest anyone here has hit is 19%. Dealing with a lot of bushels (in my immediate area we're fortunate) at higher moistures is straining the system.
 
#12 ·
"3.1 cents on top went to Trudeau"
Just in case the American fellow farmers are not clear on that comment, we have a wonderful liberal "carbon" read C02 tax in order to make the "climate" world wide, COLDER! Is it working? You bet coldest year, longest growing season in a long time here.
Everything I hear on CNN suggests Democrats are all on board to TAX the H*LL out of you also for using any fuels.
 
#16 ·
That's nice dumbfarmer, looks like that's true about a 80% carbon tax break granted to Ontario pot growers by CRA to match Alberta and BC in this article. What's also interesting is fewer fruits and vegetables are being grown so pot can be. Good old government. I wonder what the Social Justice Warriors say about pot for food swaps. Interesting article, even says BC had its coldest March ever recorded last year with costing on natural gas mentioned. Go figure. Hottest year ever apparently.



Cannabis clouds competitiveness of greenhouse vegetable sector | Grower


But, as for wishing for the urban dwellers to experience a shortage in heating fuel looks like that is coming next week. Good old global warming. Almost looks like a cold air mass is flooding from the north and compressing the air in south west driving up temps. I wonder if that happens elsewhere on the planet everytime we hear how hot it is somewhere.



https://www.zerohedge.com/commoditi...ass-set-unleash-snow-over-northeast-next-week
 
#17 ·
For years now I have looked at trying to set up large storage tanks on farm for NH3 and it would work the same for propane. There are big used tanks for sale for $10, 20, 30,000 and I priced a new one built at a shop 6 miles from the farm for about $50,000. IIRC that was about a 80MT tank that would have come close to my needs for a year and I could fill my 3,000 gal field tank too. If I could fill this tank in the off season when there was a surplus of NH3 it was about $200 a MT as opposed to $800-1000 in prime time. It sounds like propane for drying is priced on a similar surplus/ demand swing and would give you about a 2 year payback on setting up on farm tanks. I was at a large farm in South Dakota this summer that had 5- 35,000 propane storage tanks (old rail cars) that they fill in the summer when propane is in surplus for a fraction of the cost compared to now in peak season. It all looked feasible and made economic sense until I looked at the regulations and BS red tape. That makes almost everything in this country cost prohibitive. Except growing pot for the liberals! What about getting some exemption for farmers in Canada to be competitive with other countries lower cost structure in order to be competitive. I realize that is not the trend but something has to give here.
 
#21 ·
Transport price under bobtail price is around .25/gallon. My uncle just put in a bullet for around $50k. Payback probably 15 ish years. If I could snag a cheaper bullet I'd do it. My problem is I have to hit several areas around the yard all adds cost.
 
#29 ·
Shop around for a price and if you find a better one call up superior and give it to them. That price is insane.
Mind you were on NG now and don’t have to deal with those gangsters any more.

So you're saying the USDA wasn't too far off then????:poking-with-stick-s
If the corn all comes in USDA is talking about a 43% increase in ending stocks. Just what kind of environment does it take for the U.S to produce less corn!
 
#32 ·
Price isn't going anywhere they'll stick to their numbers through the January report. Never mind widespread planting issues. Never mind flooding and drought issues. Never mind harvest issues. Forget aound 40% of soybeand nationally aren't harvested and some are sitting on snow. Its a bumper crop until next September when they can say, whoops, we were off, but look at this huge 2020 crop. Here's your government payment, shut up.
 
#38 ·
Today is yhe first day I've been shut off, is what it is.

Propane driver told me yesterday he got an email from Iowa Propane Assoc stating in northern Iowa a driver instructed to drop no more than 400 gallons anywhere had a gun pulled on him by an angry farmer and told to fill the tanks.

Apparently the driver was already unhooked from tanks and drove away. Consequently the farmer probably isn't getting propane anytime soon but guessing he can't combine due to court appearances either.
 
#39 ·
Well if it's any consolation the corn we took off yesterday was 42%. Only did 5 loads and I guess today we find out what my dryer is really capable of.

Some people just need to learn how to wait....
 
#40 ·
Some people just need to learn how to wait....
Better yet some people need to learn that their farm operation is not the number one priority of the world. Houses and livestock facilities are taking priority over grain dryers as it should be. If a guy has to shut down so be it, not like its the drivers fault.
 
#46 ·
I heard a colony near me took off some corn around 60%. Is that even possible, can a tester go that high? Came from a salesman, but sometimes Hutterites tend to exaggerate a teeny bit.
 
#49 ·
Actually once we warmed the sample up it wouldn't even register on the 919 tested, even at 175 grams! So I'm not really sure what it actually is/was. Dried a little over 1500 bushels and took 5 hours and it's down to 23% with a few burnt kernels at a column temp of 120F. Fans and screens iced up and had to quit from the stupid south wind. Go back and finish it off today. It was basically raining standing beside the dryer. Only took a couple hours for this to form, have to be careful walking around. Might need a hard hat soon...

 

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