Piling On

Allan Peterson takes a quick gander at Mid Columbia Producers soft white wheat piles five miles south of Arlington on highway 19 on Sunday. Harvest east of The Dalles is already bringing in copious bushels and storage is likely in short supply. Mid Columbia Producers were offering $5.95 a bushel for soft white wheat at the close of market on Friday - that was up 9 1/2 cents. Wheat futures sold for January were fetching $6.08 a bushel.

United Grain, operating out of the Port of Umatilla near McNary Dam, is also utilizing wheat piles to provide storage. it seems a common theme up and down the Columbia River. Allan Peterson, seen here, said a little geometry is needed to calculate the bushels in a pile such as this - cones and Pi R to the second come in handy. You better know the slope of the pile as well. Remember Pi - and not the coconut cream but 3.14159 - abbreviated because, well, this could go on forever.