Tanner Stroup’s farming operation has grown rapidly since he began farming in 2012. By the early 2020’s, he realized he needed grain storage and a grain handling center to market his crop effectively. Selling directly out of the field at harvest and relying on trucks to haul away grain was proving to be inefficient and less than an optimum way to harvest and market grain for his Maceo, Ky., operation.
Soon, he found J. Adams of Adam Services of Island, Ky., and the two began planning to build a grain center. After overcoming various obstacles, Stoup’s dream became reality. Mitchell Brothers, the GSI dealer in Clay, Ky., was also instrumental in bringing the grain center to life. Stroup and his family stored their first crop in the new grain center last fall.
Recently, Farm Progress sat down with Stroup and Adams to discuss the motivation, inspiration and execution which led to successful completion and operation of the grain center. Here are highlights of that conversation.
What is your farm operation like? Who is involved in the operation?
Stroup: We grow corn, soybeans and wheat. My wife, Sarah, and I farm with my dad, Randy, and sister, Cessilee Blair, who does our accounting. My dad has operated a trucking company, First Class Services, for a long time.
Why did you decide to make this kind of investment?
Stroup: We operate three combines, and before the grain center was operational in ’25, it took 14 trucks to support them. Last fall, we cut the number of trucks in half. We have several good markets for grain, but we needed storage to be able to take advantage of them. Plus, we were losing yield to various factors by waiting until corn was dry to harvest. Ideally, we would like to start harvesting when corn is around 26% moisture.
Where did you get ideas incorporated into this grain center?
Stroup: We began thinking about this project years in advance. We traveled all over the country, looking at grain setups on farms and elevators. Our goal was to bring the best of those ideas here. We also knew that we wanted to design a grain center that would allow for future expansion.
Why did you pick this site?
Stroup: Our main operation is located nearby. This site was on the highway, giving us good access for trucks. We are only a few miles from the Ohio River and within easy driving distance of major markets.
Did this site pose special challenges in building the grain center?
Stroup: Yes. To start, it took a long, long time to get permits from local officials to build the grain center here. It even took time to get a permit to build the open-sided equipment storage building.
Adams: Another major challenge was the ground itself. Being close to the river, the soil turns to sand and gray muck about 20 feet deep. We consulted with an engineer and installed over 700 Geopiers here.
Essentially, each one is a large round hole drilled into the ground with gravel and stone infused into it. The gravel spreads out underneath, forming a solid support layer. We have precautions in place to guard against settling issues.
Did the site pose other challenges that require you to do things differently?
Adams: Yes. Since the area can flood, we didn’t want to put dump pits below ground level. Instead, we built receiving pits aboveground. Each one uses two conveyors in a perpendicular design. The corn dump pit can handle 12,000 bushels per hour.
What is one of the other most unique features of the grain center?
Stroup: Basically, we built two centers in one. Each features its own dump pit, scales and bins. One side handles corn, and the other side handles soybeans. We positioned the building for the center right between them. One person can manage trucks coming in from both sides since one window faces each truck dumping lane. Typically, that is my wife, Sarah.
How much total storage do you have?
Stroup: We have around 850,000 bushels of storage. We filled the system to within 85% to 90% of capacity during our initial harvest here. The corn side features two GSI EVO, 19 ring, 72-foot bins with 265,000 bushels of capacity each. There are two wet holding tanks, holding 50,000 bushels each and two load-out bins, which hold 7,500 bushels each. On the soybean side, we erected 21 ring, 54-foot GSI EVO bins.
How did you allow for electrical equipment needed for the operation?
Adams: All electrical boxes are located on the second floor of the building. One end of the building can be opened to get equipment in or out in the future. Instead of putting wires in conduit, we built overhead track for electrical cables. It would make repairs or modification easier in the future. We also sized the HVAC units to provide adequate cooling for the second floor containing electrical equipment.
How do you make sure grain is not heating up in these large bins?
Stroup: We installed GSI’s GrainVue system, which manages aeration and monitors parameters related to grain quality. There are temperature and moisture cables within each bin. I can monitor them in each bin on my cellphone.
With safety in mind, there are no augers anywhere in the grain center. We went with GSI conveyors instead, including a paddle sweep conveyor inside each bin.
How did you provide for aeration within bins?
Adams: There are two 30-hp fans for each bin on the corn side, with three 3-hp roof vent fans per bin. On the soybean side, we installed two, 20-hp bins and two- 3-hp roof vents.
Would your system allow you to rehydrate soybeans?
Stroup: Yes. Soybeans went into the bin at 10% moisture last fall. With our fan sizes and having the GrainVue system to manage aeration when conditions are favorable, we could add moisture back into our soybeans.
Knowing what you know now, would you still commit to building the center if you had it do over again?
Stroup: Probably. Construction was an involved process, but J. Adams and his crew and Mitchell Brothers did what needed to be done. Having the grain center gives us the flexibility we were after for marketing. We intend to pursue more marketing options which offer premiums in the future.