You have a good corn crop coming, and you don‘t have enough storage space for every bushel. You also don’t expect prices at harvest to be very attractive, and you would like to store as much of your crop as you possibly can. There happens to be a couple of empty bins within a few miles because a farmer retired and rents out the farm, but not the bins. Would he rent them to you? If so, what would be a fair rent?
Craig Dobbins, a Purdue University Extension ag economist, monitors rent that Hoosiers pay for grain bins as part of Purdue’s annual farmland value survey.
Dobbins asked respondents to provide rental rates for three possible ways people rent bins that other farmers or landowners are no longer using. Sometimes, they simply rent the bins themselves. Often, the person renting the bin may provide his own auger to fill the bins. And he may pay for electricity to run fans or unloading equipment.
Other times, someone rents unused bins, and the bin owner covers the electricity cost.
In some cases, especially if a farmer retires, the entire grain facility may be available. If a person rents a grain facility with a dryer, leg and bins, the price per bushel will be higher.
Note in the table that the statewide average is fairly consistent across the state. Bins alone rent for about 14 cents per bushel, bins with electricity rent for about 20 cents per bushel, and an entire grain handling facility rents for 26 cents per bushel.
Find the report at ag.purdue.edu.