Insider Info

There's something about a prairie grain elevator that catches people's interest. Artists paint these elevators. Photographers capture them on film. They even get mentioned in country music from time to time.

Farmers rely on these facilities and the people that operate them to purchase their grain after the harvest and send it off to distant markets where it is made into flour and other products. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be the person that operates that elevator?

It's a difficult question to answer, because the responsibilities and roles vary a lot from place to place.

Michael Moors is a manager at an elevator. "I grew up on a farm," he explains. "After school, I worked in the oil patch for a while, then I got a call from my local elevator manager asking me if I wanted a job."

Moors started out as a general worker. "I did the dirty work -- cleaning boxcars and coopering boxcars. That means we put up wooden doors to hang inside the car so the grain doesn't run out of the two big doors on both sides. I had a lot of black thumbnails when I was doing that type of work."

Moors worked in a region where there were several elevators. He was often sent around to different elevators where help was needed. After three years, he applied for a position as an assistant manager at a small elevator and was promoted.

"I had more responsibility then. I didn't do the dirty work anymore -- I was doing grain checks and work like that. I worked in that job for 14 years handling grain. Then later, they built a new elevator -- one of the big conventional, wooden elevators. I moved into that facility and everything changed.

"The grain handling went from 20,000 tonnes [19,684 tons] to 60,000 tonnes [59,052 tons]. My responsibility was to ensure that the grain we bought was blended and shipped properly, and that we didn't incur any losses, and that our stockage statements were good."

Moors explains that blending grain refers to mixing two or more grades together to try and get the farmer a better price. "If a farmer brings in a sample of grain that tests at number three, and another that tests at number one, we mix the batch together so it tests at number two. This gets him a better price, so he makes better money at the end of the day."

Another important part of the job is ensuring that the grain holds its quality or exceeds the quality when shipped. "If we ship the grain, and it tests at a lower quality than when we purchased it from the farmer, then we have to absorb that loss. There is a lot of responsibility in this job."

Interacting with the customers is one of the high points of the job for Moors. "I like talking with the farmers. I know where they are coming from because I grew up on a farm. But when the prices are low, I feel badly for them. That's one of the parts I dislike."

Moors believes strongly that to succeed, operators must take additional training and continue to learn. "Things are changing and you have to keep up. I supervise three other fellows now. I've taken a lot of training in human resource management. It's important to have a team of workers that has fun together and that make it an enjoyable place for the customer to visit."

"Elevator operators must be very responsible and able to make good decisions," says Linda Donovan. She is the co-general manager of the Norton County Co-op Association in Kansas.

Donovan's career in elevator management began as an office manager in 1970. In 1978, when the manager quit, Donovan and her colleague applied to co-manage the facility. She has been working in the job ever since.

As a co-manager, Donovan looks after the business end of the operation while her partner runs the elevators. They communicate about various things and share decisions.

"I merchandise the grain for the organization. From 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., I spend my time on grain marketing. The balance of the day is spent getting through the mail -- which never slows down. I go through all the invoices and approve them. We have a lot of contact with customers. I deal with customers all day long," she says.

"After harvest, they come in to verify their records. We also have a service station where we buy fuel and propane and deliver the fuels to the country. My partner takes care of the fertilizers that we sell, and looks after the maintenance of the elevator equipment."

Donovan enjoys merchandising the grain and working with the people. "It is very interesting. It keeps you on your toes all the time. It's not a 'ho-hum' type of job. There is something new and different every day," she says.

"When we're handling two million bushels of grain, it takes six months to accumulate and buy that grain. For every kernel of grain that comes in, it has to go out. We take the grain in over two to three weeks' time, then spend the rest of the year shipping it out. There is lots of paperwork."

The work becomes stressful when the market goes down. "It has a psychological effect. It is more fun to work on days when the market is up. We have a computer service that gives us live access to the Chicago Board of Trade. I know tick by tick what is happening with grain prices."

Donovan's company has 18 full-time employees. "The ones that work in the elevator do the actual physical loading and unloading of the grain. The outside personnel are elevator operators, feed mill operators, truck drivers and people who work with the fertilizers," she says.

"For entry-level people, we look for someone with a high school or equivalent education. Their training involves learning how to take care of the grain, how to keep it from being infested and keep it in a marketable condition. There are a lot of safety events to be attended. Safety is a big part of the operation."

Like Donovan, Byron Ulery works for a grain co-op in Kansas. "We are definitely in the grain business, but it is a full-service cooperative. We are also involved with fuel, feed and agronomy." Agronomy applies to fertilizers, chemicals and so on.

In Ulery's co-op, the marketing of the grain is done centrally. The person that manages the elevator is really an operations manager and has few decisions to make regarding the marketing. A computer screen shows them the prices that are currently being offered, and that is what they go by.

"They manage the grain, but the work varies from elevator to elevator. The elevator may or may not be involved in feed or fertilizer chemical operations. They take responsibility as far as handling the grain is concerned. They are responsible for preserving the quality of that grain -- and when it comes out of the elevator, it has to be as good or better than when the farmer originally delivered it," he says.

"Most things are done by machinery. It's as automated as we can get it. In this grain marketing group, those computers are interfaced with the scale and are all connected on a network. When any given elevator has grain coming in, the relevant information such as moisture, dockage and so forth is entered into the computer and it is picked up centrally."

Ulery says they seldom hire new people as managers. "Usually, they work their way up. We have college graduates here, and others that have less education. The person has to be able to handle the job. I like to see a bachelor's degree, but it is not totally necessary." Ulery started his own career as a vocational agriculture teacher in a high school.

If you want a career in grain, Ulery's advice is to decide what your goals are. The occupation of an elevator operator is varied and no two job descriptions are alike.

"If your end goal is to spend life managing one of these elevators here, that's one thing. But if you want to go as far as you can in grain, then I strongly advise you to get a degree. Agricultural economics or agricultural education are good ways to go. There is a world of opportunities for a young person with a good attitude," he says.

"You have to be willing to grow. You have to be valuable to an employer. Make yourself marketable. You need a range of skills and you must be flexible. You must be able to work alone, make common sense decisions and have basic mathematical skills. People skills and communication skills are critical. Computer skills are important, also."