Do you need propane?

You might have to wait a little while.

A unique harvest season has created an increase in demand for the fuel source, as wetter crops coming out of the field have meant more time is needed to adequately dry them down. 

The October rains put much of the corn crop being taken from the fields in the 30 percent moisture range, and that means reducing the moisture content before taking it to market – unless one wants to pay the drying charge at the elevator.

That demand has put more LP trucks on the road hauling the fuel from farm to farm to help keep harvest going. The problem is those supplying that fuel are having a difficult time keeping up with the demand.

“We have never had this problem before,” said John Valentin of Meadowland Co-operative in Lamberton. “I have been doing this (harvest) for 50 years and have never seen anything close to what is going on this year.”

Farmers are being forced to slow down and, at times stop, harvesting while they wait for propane to arrive for their bin dryers.

However, those supplying the fuel are going to tell you there is no shortage.

For local elevators supplying the fuel, what is going on is a matter of logistics.

 The logistics are in getting the fuel from the pipeline to the local elevators. 

Most of the local supply of propane comes from sources fairly close – locations in Minnesota and Iowa. 

Now, explained Val-entin, the trucks are coming in from as far away as Kansas and even North Carolina.

Valentin said the demand creating the logistical challenges is not a new thing, but is one that has been going on for more than a month.

“It’s really been tough the whole (harvest) time,” said Valentin.

Hauling the fuel over longer distances has meant increased freight costs for local suppliers, which has led to a minimal price increase. 

The cost has not risen dramatically be-cause of the increase in local propane de-mand, though.

Another issue slowing down the availability of propane is a federal regulation requiring truck drivers to get off the road after the have driven so many hours. 

When drivers have to stop their trucks because of this federal regulation, the fuel is not being hauled.

No one anticipated this was going to happen this year.

Valentin said the consumption is as much as three times greater than the average year.

“We’re bringing in all we can get,” Valentin said. “We know there have been some outages, but we are doing our best to try and deal with that.”

With corn still left in the fields, one can see there is going to still be a high demand for propane, but the recent warm, dry weather should help to dry down that corn the way nature intended.

That, should help everyone involved.

The good news is the propane supply is good, which means there is no concern about a lack of propane come winter.