Farm Progress

On-farm fuel, fertilizer storage lets farmers buy and take delivery when prices are low.

Mike Wilson, Senior Executive Editor

November 3, 2017

3 Min Read
The farm’s fuel depot cost less than $45,000 and was paid off in less than four years.

For Bryan Kirkpatrick, one of his best money-saving ideas started out in a coal mine.

Kirkpatrick made a rock-bottom offer to buy a 15,000-gallon storage tank from a mining company. He then retrofitted the tank as the centerpiece of a 37,000-gallon fuel storage depot on his Greentown, Ind., farm.

He already had access to another used 10,000-gallon tank to go with two existing 4,000-gallon tanks. The building, concrete and tanks cost less than $45,000. Kirkpatrick finished the project in 2009 and paid it off in four years, thanks to the savings he gets from buying fuel and taking delivery when prices are low.

“There were a couple times when we bought fuel and really saved money,” says Kirkpatrick, who manages 10 full- and part-time employees and grows a 50-50 mix of specialty and commodity crops. “I work with a local supplier to buy during seasonal lows. It didn’t take me very long to pay off the entire facility.”

A fuel operation this size must adhere to rigorous, specific regulations. The fuel tanks must be on concrete. Kirkpatrick must have a written spill prevention plan that includes how the facility complies with standards for secondary containment, corrosion protection, inspection, testing, warning systems and employee training.

Still, the added regulatory hassle is worth it.

“Bryan has enough storage that he can pick and choose when he wants to buy, without contracting, and take delivery to get best prices,” says Purdue University pesticide program director Fred Whitford. “If you are forced to buy at planting time, you would have to pay 20 to 30 cents more per gallon.”

Kirkpatrick’s liquid nitrogen fertilizer setup also paid off quickly. Step inside his 8-year-old storage shed and you’ll find fertilizer tanks lining both walls — 200,000 gallons of 28% or 32% N storage in all. The machinery shed housing the tanks has a lip along the concrete edge of the door to keep water out. Inside, the floor gradually slopes toward a shallow drain pit.

Kirkpatrick committed to side-dress liquid nitrogen after gully washers wiped out his fall-applied anhydrous eight years ago. “We decided, we really don’t know how much we have been wasting by applying fall nitrogen, so the safest way is to sidedress,” he says.

Like fuel, having on-farm fertilizer storage saves money by buying low in the off-season. “If I booked it now, it’d be $20 a ton higher than when I booked it in August,” he says. “And by the time spring rolls around, it could be $40 or $50 a ton higher yet.”

Timeliness may be an even greater benefit. With several thousand acres to sidedress in a short time period, having the product close by is critical.

“When you need to get that nitrogen on the corn, you can’t be waiting on trucks to bring you product,” he concludes. “When we made the commitment to sidedress corn, I didn’t feel comfortable not having the material on-site when it is needed.”

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The Kirkpatricks have 200,000 gallons of liquid fertilizer storage available in tanks inside their equipment shed.

Bryan Kirkpatrick’s book, Faith of a Farmer: God, family and life in America’s Heartland can be purchased here. 

About the Author(s)

Mike Wilson

Senior Executive Editor, Farm Progress

Mike Wilson is the senior executive editor for Farm Progress. He grew up on a grain and livestock farm in Ogle County, Ill., and earned a bachelor's degree in agricultural journalism from the University of Illinois. He was twice named Writer of the Year by the American Agricultural Editors’ Association and is a past president of the organization. He is also past president of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists, a global association of communicators specializing in agriculture. He has covered agriculture in 35 countries.

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