Liquid Propane Shortage
- Thread starter bucs012
- Start date
Falcon67
Well-known member
Looks like it's hitting the farmers - notice how a lot of these problems directly hit the food supply and beat up on the folks that give their time to the land.
http://www.kimt.com/content/localne...g-Critical-Levels/TvZopN45OUmqF7-pNcd_WA.cspx
http://www.kimt.com/content/localne...g-Critical-Levels/TvZopN45OUmqF7-pNcd_WA.cspx
benjamming
Well-known member
Did I miss something in that article? What is causing the supply limitations if there is plenty of propane available?
Great. I just replaced my fuel oil furnace with a lp furnace for this winter. 
Here's a page that tracks the propane prices and stock:
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/hopu/hopu.asp
Here's a page that tracks the propane prices and stock:
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/hopu/hopu.asp
tdkkart
Well-known member
It's not so much a shortage, just can't get enough up here in farm country fast enough to meet the huge but short term demand.
Normally by now the corn harvest should be complete, however reports locally are that it's only 40% complete. There are a couple reasons for this. We had an unusually cool and somewhat damp fall season, the time of year when the corn is usually drying in the field. The farmers that tried harvesting at their normal times found that the corn to be very wet, upwards of 30% moisture, when it needs to be at approx. 12-14% to safely store it without spoilage. Normally it comes out of the field at 18-20% or so and gets dried from there.
So, best and cheapest short term solution is to simply let it stand in the field for awhile longer and hope that it drys some more.......
Not to be, the cool damp weather continues and we're to the point where the corn has to come out before the snow arrives. Moisture or not, it's gotta come out and they just have to bite the bullet and dry it down in dryers. Problem is, that takes huge amounts of propane, and time, you can only dry it so fast without cooking it.
All the farmers were looing forward to this fall, the crops looked very promising, and propane is 1/2 the cost of last year, but now they have to use twice as much as usual.
Normally by now the corn harvest should be complete, however reports locally are that it's only 40% complete. There are a couple reasons for this. We had an unusually cool and somewhat damp fall season, the time of year when the corn is usually drying in the field. The farmers that tried harvesting at their normal times found that the corn to be very wet, upwards of 30% moisture, when it needs to be at approx. 12-14% to safely store it without spoilage. Normally it comes out of the field at 18-20% or so and gets dried from there.
So, best and cheapest short term solution is to simply let it stand in the field for awhile longer and hope that it drys some more.......
Not to be, the cool damp weather continues and we're to the point where the corn has to come out before the snow arrives. Moisture or not, it's gotta come out and they just have to bite the bullet and dry it down in dryers. Problem is, that takes huge amounts of propane, and time, you can only dry it so fast without cooking it.
All the farmers were looing forward to this fall, the crops looked very promising, and propane is 1/2 the cost of last year, but now they have to use twice as much as usual.
Here is an article local to us in Iowa
http://www.kimt.com/content/localne...g-Critical-Levels/TvZopN45OUmqF7-pNcd_WA.cspx
http://www.kimt.com/content/localne...g-Critical-Levels/TvZopN45OUmqF7-pNcd_WA.cspx
bookman51
Well-known member
Ummm, I live in central Nebraska and had lunch with a fellow who manages quite a number of farms. He is buying a lot of propane (and it seemed relatively cheap from what he said), and he never said anything about a shortage here. Must be rather localized so far.
Sounds like some farmers are caught between a rock and hard place. Still quite a bit of corn still in the fields here.
Bookman
Sounds like some farmers are caught between a rock and hard place. Still quite a bit of corn still in the fields here.
Bookman
D KRAGER
Well-known member
I've heard of shortages in certain areas, not widespread. And yes it has to do with grain drying. I'm a grain elevator manager, we have been going thru 10-20 times what we do on a normal year. It's just causing some shortages at local terminals.
Racecarl
Well-known member
Agreed as above--no shortage of product but a distribution problem. Propane is shipped in the same pipelines as refined liquid fuels (gas, diesel, jet A). Demand for refined fuels is around normal and the pipelines are usually kept pretty busy with just these products. Going through 10-20 times the normal amount of propane puts a strain on an already nearly full system.