LP Gas, July 2014

Continued from page 40 Carnahan the Indiana farmer who has been using propane for decades is part of a new PERC case study on grain drying Taking advantage of the councils 5000 Propane Farm Incentive Program the family upgraded its propane fueled dryer to a GSI X Stream model in 2012 and says it has been getting 20 percent more in drying efficiency as well as added market flexibility and The harvest of 2013 kept dryers busy control over harvest timing The farms local equipment dealer Midwest Ag Systems was the key source of information on the dryer and incentive program Carnahan says A propane fueled dryer is a demand building tool because it locks the customer in for the life of the equipment 20 years or more and the profitability window for the farmer to operate the dryer widens Leitman says Depending on the drying season Carnahan Sons Inc will burn 30000 to 50000 gallons of propane per year It also uses propane for building heat and forklift fuel It has an 18000 gallon tank Industry encourages communication between propane marketer farmer Mark Leitman wasnt sure what kind of feedback he would hear from farmers at the agricultural focused Commodity Classic trade show earlier this year about the propane industrys ability to meet the ag communitys needs last fall At the time of the show which ran Feb 26 to March 1 the mainstream media had been reporting on major propane supply issues for weeks So hearing a horror story or two about propane retailers inability to supply the ag community probably would not have been a huge surprise But Leitman the Propane Education research Councils PErC director of business development and marketing who specializes in agriculture was pleasantly surprised by the ag communitys collective response to the propane industry after PErC exhibited at the San Antonio show The farmers we spoke to were generally in a good place with the winter and their propane supplier Leitman says The fact that they had large tanks and fuel on hand helped Some were even asked to offer their propane supply back if needed It was such a non issue among the people who attended the show It was more a concern among the media who were there they heard all the stories and the reports from angry customers onsite for Stangle Propane to fill The retail operation provides Carnahan with what he calls the three Ps of a propane supplier price promotion of service and personality Propanes propensity to offer clean portable reliable heat is also a good fit for organic farms whose sales grew over the last five years Organic farmers reported 312 billion in sales in 2012 up from 17 billion in 2007 according to the census That said I think the people I was speaking to were the cream of the crop among farmers They were the people who talk about supply months and years out It was probably a different type of customer that had more of the issues this past year According to Leitman PErCs general message to farmers who visited its booth at the Commodity Classic was to continuously communicate with their propane supplier We try to encourage communication he says We dont want to say the word contracting but we want to encourage some sort of discussion between the propane marketer that works out for both of them That way the propane marketer can do a better job securing supply plan their route more efficiently and pass on some savings to the farmers Leitman also heard from farmers at the Commodity Classic about adding storage As the farm grows or the heating load gets larger they need to increase storage along with that so they have the right number of days of capacity Leitman says Clearly theres an opportunity with some that are already set up for 10000 gallon deliveries for 20000 or 30000 gallon tanks Kevin Yanik These sales still only account for 08 percent of the total value of U S agricultural production Organic farmers have to find solutions for weed and pest control that are non chemical in nature Leitman says Propane is a great way to generate heat LPG AGrICULTUrE Online resources www agpropane com www agcensus usda gov www LPGasmagazine com July 2014 LPGas 45