Editing Grain elevator (section)

==History==
{{More citations needed section|date=December 2014}}
[[File:Port Perry grain mill and elevator circa 1930.jpg|thumb|The Port Perry mill and grain elevator,'' circa'' 1930: Built in 1873, it is the oldest grain elevator in Canada and remains a major landmark to this day. The line of the PW&PP Railway can be seen in the foreground.]]
[[File:Grain elevator in Wrentham Alberta.jpg|thumb|right|Typical "wood-cribbed" design for grain elevators throughout [[Western Canada]], a common design used from the early 1900s to mid-1980s: The former Ogilvie Flour Mill elevator in [[Wrentham, Alberta]], was built in 1925.]]
Both necessity and the prospect of making money  gave birth to the steam-powered grain elevator in [[Buffalo, New York]], in 1843. Due to the completion of the [[Erie Canal]] in 1825, Buffalo enjoyed a unique position in American geography. It stood at the intersection of two great all-water routes; one extended from [[New York Harbor]], up the [[Hudson River]] to [[Albany, New York|Albany]], and beyond it, the Port of Buffalo; the other comprised the [[Great Lakes]], which could theoretically take boaters in any direction they wished to go (north to [[Canada]], west to [[Michigan]] or [[Wisconsin]], south to [[Toledo, Ohio|Toledo]] and [[Cleveland, Ohio|Cleveland]], or east to the [[Atlantic Ocean]]). All through the 1830s, Buffalo benefited tremendously from its position. In particular, it was the recipient of most of the increasing quantities of grain (mostly wheat) that was being grown on farms in [[Ohio]] and [[Indiana]], and shipped on [[Lake Erie]] for trans-shipment to the Erie Canal. If Buffalo had not been there, or when things got backed up there, that grain would have been loaded onto boats at Cincinnati and shipped down the [[Mississippi River]] to [[New Orleans]].<ref name="American Colossus"/>

By 1842,  Buffalo's port facilities clearly had become antiquated. They still relied upon techniques that had been in use since the European [[Middle Ages]]; work teams of [[stevedore]]s use [[block and tackle]]s and their own backs to unload or load each sack of grain that had been stored ashore or in the boat's hull. Several days, sometimes even a week, were needed to serve a single grain-laden boat. Grain shipments were going down the Mississippi River, not over the Great Lakes/Erie Canal system.

A merchant named Joseph Dart Jr., is generally credited as being the one who adapted [[Oliver Evans]]' grain elevator (originally a manufacturing device) for use in a commercial framework (the trans-shipment of grain in bulk from lakers to canal boats), but the actual design and construction of the world's first steam-powered "grain storage and transfer warehouse" was executed by an engineer named Robert Dunbar. Thanks to the historic [[Dart's Elevator]] (operational on 1 June 1843), which worked almost seven times faster than its nonmechanized predecessors, Buffalo was able to keep pace with—and thus further stimulate—the rapid growth of American agricultural production in the 1840s and 1850s, but especially after the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], with the coming of the [[rail transport|railroads]].<ref name="American Colossus"/>

[[File:Burrus.JPG|thumb|right|A 1928 Burrus Elevator steel-reinforced concrete elevator with 123 silos shown just prior to demolition in 2004]]

The world's second and third grain elevators were built in Toledo, Ohio, and [[Brooklyn]], New York, in 1847. These fledgling American cities were connected through an emerging international grain trade of unprecedented proportions. Grain shipments from farms in Ohio were loaded onto ships by elevators at Toledo; these ships were unloaded by elevators at Buffalo that shipped their grain to canal boats (and, later, rail cars), which were unloaded by elevators in Brooklyn, where the grain was either distributed to [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] flour mills or loaded for further shipment to [[England]], the [[Netherlands]], or [[Germany]]. This eastern flow of grain, though,  was matched by an equally important flow of people and capital in the opposite direction, that is, from east to west. Because of the money to be made in grain production, and of course, because of the existence of an all-water route to get there, increasing numbers of immigrants in Brooklyn came to Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to become farmers. More farmers meant more prairies turned into farmlands, which in turn meant increased grain production, which of course meant that more grain elevators would have to be built in places such as Toledo, Buffalo, and Brooklyn (and Cleveland, [[Chicago]], and [[Duluth, Minnesota|Duluth]]). Through this loop of productivity set in motion by the invention of the grain elevator, the United States became a major international producer of wheat, corn, and oats.<ref name="American Colossus"/>

In the early 20th century,  concern arose about monopolistic practices in the grain elevator industry, leading to testimony before the [[Interstate Commerce Commission]] in 1906.<ref name=ICC>[https://books.google.com/books?id=RW9MAAAAMAAJ&dq=Robert+Watke&pg=PA35 Testimony taken by Interstate Commerce Commission, October 15 – November 23, 1906, in matter of relations of common carriers to the grain trade, 59th Congress, Senate Document #278, Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907, pp. 28, 34–35].</ref> This led to several grain elevators being burned down in Nebraska, allegedly in protest.<ref name=ICC/>

[[File:Grain elevators on a farm in Israel.jpg|thumb|left|Silos connected to a grain elevator on a farm in [[Israel]]]]
Today, grain elevators are a common sight in the grain-growing areas of the world, such as the [[North America]]n [[prairie]]s. Larger terminal elevators are found at distribution centers, such as Chicago and [[Thunder Bay]], Ontario, where grain is sent for processing, or loaded aboard trains or ships to go further afield.

Buffalo, New York, the world's largest grain port from the 1850s until the first half of the 20th century, once had the United States' largest capacity for the storage of grain in over 30 concrete grain elevators located along the inner and outer harbors. While several are still in productive use, many of those that remain are presently idle. In a nascent trend, some of the city's inactive capacity has recently come back online, with an [[ethanol]] plant started in 2007 using one of the previously mothballed elevators to store corn. In the early 20th century, Buffalo's grain elevators inspired modernist architects such as [[Le Corbusier]], who exclaimed, "The first fruits of the new age!" when he first saw them. Buffalo's grain elevators have been documented for the [[Historic American Buildings Survey|Historic American Engineering Record]] and added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. Currently, [[Enid, Oklahoma]], holds the title of most grain storage capacity in the United States.

[[File:Grain elevator8089.JPG|thumb|right|Corrugated-steel [[Grain bin|grain bins]] and cable-guyed grain elevator at a grain elevator in [[Hemingway, South Carolina]]]]
In farming communities, each town had one or more small grain elevators that served the local growers. The classic grain elevator was constructed with wooden cribbing and had nine or more larger square or rectangular bins arranged in 3 × 3 or 3 × 4 or 4 × 4 or more patterns. Wooden-cribbed elevators usually had a driveway with truck scale and office on one side, a rail line on the other side, and additional grain-storage annex bins on either side.

In more recent times with improved transportation, centralized and much larger elevators serve many farms. Some of them are quite large. Two elevators in [[Kansas]] (one in [[Hutchinson, Kansas|Hutchinson]] and one in [[Wichita, Kansas|Wichita]]) are half a mile long. The loss of the grain elevators from small towns is often considered a great change in their identity, and efforts to preserve them as heritage structures are made. At the same time, many larger grain farms have their own grain-handling facilities for storage and loading onto trucks.

[[File:GrainElevatorEsthervilleIA2006-05-20.JPG|thumb|left|upright|Old wooden cribbed grain elevator and livestock feedmill in [[Estherville, Iowa]]]]
Elevator operators buy grain from farmers, either for cash or at a contracted price, and then sell [[futures contract]]s for the same quantity of grain, usually each day. They profit through the narrowing "basis", that is, the difference between the local cash price, and the futures price, that occurs at certain times of the year.

Before economical truck transportation was available, grain elevator operators sometimes used their purchasing power to control prices. This was especially easy, since farmers often had only one elevator  within a reasonable distance of their farms. This led some governments to take over the administration of grain elevators. An example of this is the [[Saskatchewan Wheat Pool]]. For the same reason, many elevators were purchased by [[cooperatives]].

[[File:NS grain elevator.JPG|right|thumb|These houses in [[Halifax Regional Municipality|Halifax]], Nova Scotia were constructed in the 1990s long after the elevator had been constructed and are vulnerable due to their location. In the summer of 2003, an explosion at this elevator sparked a fire that took seven hours to extinguish.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/grain-elevator-explosion-rocks-halifax-1.403637 |work=CBC News |title=Grain elevator explosion rocks Halifax |date=2003-08-08}}</ref>]]

A recent problem with grain elevators is the need to provide separate storage for ordinary and [[genetically modified]] grain to reduce the risk of accidental mixing of the two.

In the past, grain elevators sometimes experienced [[dust explosion|silo explosions]]. Fine powder from the millions of grains passing through the facility would accumulate and mix with the oxygen in the air. A spark could spread from one floating particle to the other, creating a chain reaction that would destroy the entire structure. (This dispersed-fuel explosion is the mechanism behind [[thermobaric weapons|fuel-air bombs]].) To prevent this, elevators have very rigorous rules against [[tobacco smoking|smoking]] or any other open flame. Many elevators also have various devices installed to maximize ventilation, safeguards against overheating in belt conveyors, legs, bearings, and [[electrical equipment in hazardous areas|explosion-proof electrical devices]] such as [[electric motor]]s, switches, and [[electric light|lighting]].

[[File:Elevators, Edon, Ohio.jpg|thumb|left|Jump-formed concrete annex silos on the left and slip-formed concrete mainhouse at an elevator facility in [[Edon, Ohio]]]]
Grain elevators in small Canadian communities often had the name of the community painted on two sides of the elevator in large block letters, with the name of the elevator operator emblazoned on the other two sides. This made identification of the community easier for rail operators (and incidentally, for lost drivers and pilots). The old community name often remained on an elevator long after the town had either disappeared or been amalgamated into another community; the grain elevator at [[Ellerslie, Edmonton|Ellerslie, Alberta]], remained marked with its old community name until it was demolished, which took place more than 20 years after the village had been annexed by [[Edmonton]].

One of the major historical trends in the grain trade has been the closure of many smaller elevators and the consolidation of the grain trade to fewer places and among fewer companies. For example, in 1961, 1,642 "country elevators" (the smallest type) were in Alberta, holding {{convert|3452240|t|ST|abbr=off}} of grain. By 2010, only 79 "primary elevators" (as they are now known) remained, holding {{convert|1613960|t|ST|abbr=off}}.
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Despite this consolidation, overall storage capacity has increased in many places. In 2017, the United States had {{convert|25|e9USbu|km3|order=flip|abbr=off}} of storage capacity, a growth of 25% over the previous decade.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Huffstutter|first1=P. J.|last2=Plume|first2=Karl|title=Grains piled on runways, parking lots, fields amid global glut|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-grains-storage-analysis-idUSKBN17D0EO|access-date=12 April 2017|work=Reuters|date=11 April 2017}}</ref>