More Kansas Trivia

"A grain elevator in Hutchinson is 1/2 mile long and holds 46 million bushels in its 1,000 bins."

What's more, this largest grain elevator is only one of several huge granaries in that City. The east side of 'Hutch', as it is familiarly known among the locals, is a monument to the Wheat State. Obviously, these grain elevators serve as an inter modal collection point for the wheat harvest as both roadways and railways both serve them. Straight trucks haul the grain from the field to a local elevator where the grains are moisture tested, checked for foreign matter, and weighed, and then dried and stored for future shipment. Next, semi-trailer trucks haul the grain to larger elevators from which it is transferred to a food processor or to a port for shipment to an overseas market. The elevators also serve to store wheat for future delivery. I am sure that the functions of these mammoth grain storage facilities are a lot more complicated than I have portrayed, and I'd be interested in hearing more about them and there smaller local counterparts. If you haven't seen them, check them out on Google Earth.