Bulletin 590 March 1988 abama 'S Grain Marketing System e F4K "' Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station Auburn University Lowell T. Frobish, Director Auburn University, Alabama CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION .................................................. METHOD OF STUDY............................................. 3 4 RESULTS ........................................................ 5 Production-Utilization Balances.......................... 5 Corn.............................................. 6 Wheat ............................................ 6 Soybeans.......................................... Grain Sorghum..................................... Oats .............................................. Origin-Destination Patterns............................. General Origins .................................... The Public Grain Elevator at Mobile................... Receipts By Mode of Transportation and Origin .......... Corn........................................... Soybeans....................................... Wheat.......................................... Grain Sorghum.................................. Oats ........................................... Receipts By Type of Firm and Origin .................. Corn........................................... Soybeans....................................... Wheat ......................................... Grain Oats ........................................... Shipments ........................................... Firm-to-Firm Transfers.............................. Shipments to Farmers............................... Shipments to Ports ................................. Out-of-State Shipments ............................. SUMMARY ...................................................... REFERENCES ................................................... Sorghum.................................. 7 7 7 7 8 9 10 10 10 11 12 13 13 13 13 14 15 16 16 16 16 16 16 17 19 FIRST PRINTING 3M, MARCH 1988 Information contained herein is available to all regardlessof race, color, sex, or national origin. ALABAMA'S GRAIN MARKETING SYSTEM IN THE 1980's' James L. Stallings2 INTRODUCTION GRAIN MARKETING system has changed markedly over the last 20 years or more, going from mostly family-owned country elevators and feed mills to collection stations and feed manufacturers for large vertically integrated poultry and other operations (4,5,6). Two large soybean processing plants in the northern part of the State provide the protein ingredient for the poultry operations. These two recently have processed more soybeans than are currently produced in Alabama, necessitating importing soybeans into the State. A corn processing plant established in Decatur in recent years has increased imports of corn above what would have been required for only grain-consuming animals and a few other minor uses for corn. The total number of grain-handling firms in Alabama decreased considerably between 1970 and 1985, table 1. Even without the corn processing plant, Alabama has been a deficit state for feed grains for many years, especially since the poultry industry grew to use large amounts of feed grains. Research on production and utilization of different grains in this project has indicated that Alabama has produced less than 30 percent of the feed grain, mostly corn, needed over the past 20 years (3). This has ranged over ALABAMA'S 'This bulletin represents the reporting, on a local basis, of Alabama's contribution to a regional project involving 11 states in the Southeast and the Corn Belt. This regional effort has been a continuing series of 5-year projects, mostly surveys of grain handling firms, involving Alabama since the late 1950's and early 1960's. This bulletin is mostly a reporting of the results of the survey conducted in the most recent 5-year project, along with some results from previous projects and from some secondary data. 'Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics. 4 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION TABLE 1. NUMBER OF GRAIN-HANDLING FIRMS IN ALABAMA BY TYPE OF FIRM AND SELECTED YEARS Number of firms, by year Type of firm1970' Country elevators. ................. Feed mills or processors ............ Terminal elevators ................. Processors (soybeans, corn, etc.) ..... Integrated poultry operations ........ Public grain elevator ................. TOTAL .......................... 19772 26 182 10 3 25 1 247 1985 55 80 8 3 24 1 180 51 100 13 5 25 195 'Cavanaugh, Jon E. and James L. Stallings. 1972. The Feed Grain Market for Alabama. Ala. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 425. 'Headley, Leo M. and James L. Stallings. 1980. Grain Firms and Grain Movements in Alabama in 1977. Ala. Agr. Exp. Sta. Bull. 523. the years from a low of about 10 percent to a high of about 70 percent. Most of the imported feed grain came from Illinois and Indiana, with lesser amounts from other areas. The Public Grain Elevator in Mobile, owned by the State of Alabama, has played a part in the Alabama grain marketing system during this time also. However, even though providing an additional market for Alabama grains, it has mostly exported grain coming in from outside Alabama. Alabama grain exported through Mobile mostly comes from the southern half of the State, and these exports increase the quantity of feed grains that must be imported from out of state for local use. The northern half of Alabama typically exports little through Mobile and requires even more import of feed grains and soybeans to fuel its poultry industry and the soybean and corn processing plants located there. So far, the newly completed Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway has played little part in the grain marketing system of Alabama or in the volume of grain business through the port of Mobile. METHOD OF STUDY The nature of Alabama's grain market in the 1980's was mostly determined through a 2-page questionnaire to grain firms in Alabama as required by the regional project mentioned earlier. This questionnaire covered the calendar year 1985 and included such information as the type of firm, some measures of size, mode of transportation and origin of grain received, and other information. Three criteria were used in selecting the sample: storage capacity, total grains handled, and tons of feed produced. A current directory of grainhandling firms, in which these three characteristics of firms ALABAMA'S GRAIN MARKETING SYSTEM 5 are kept up-to-date, provided a basis for choosing samples for questionnaires. Firms were first arrayed from largest to smallest based on these three criteria and cumulative percentages were computed for each. Firms representing 50 percent of each criteria were chosen as a mandatory 100 percent sample, which included 17 of the 180 firms in Alabama who handled grain (certain other firms such as brokers and home offices were not included). This indicates a concentration of 50 percent of the activity in less than 10 percent of the firms. Information from these 17 firms was considered absolutely essential and was obtained by several means, including mailed questionnaire, phone contact, and personal contact. Some data were estimated from previous surveys and other grain industry contacts when all else failed. All other firms were mailed questionnaires with the remainder of the sample consisting of whatever number was returned. The multiplier (expansion factor to estimate State totals) for the 17 large firms representing over 50 percent of the activity was 1 (100 percent), while the multiplier for the remainder of firms was 4 (25 percent of the remaining firms were returned). Of the 180 grain handling firms in Alabama, 59 were included in the sample, table 2. TABLE 2. NUMBER OF GRAIN HANDLING FIRMS IN ALABAMA AND SAMPLE BY TYPES, 1985 Type of firm Estimated number in Alabama Number in sample Feed manufacturer or feed mill ............... Country elevators .......................... Integrated poultry or livestock ................ Terminal elevators.......................... Soybean processors ........................ State docks ................................ O ther or m ise.............................. TOTAL. . .................................. 80 55 24 8 .. .. . .. 20 20 8 4 2 1 4 59 . . 2 1 10 180 RESULTS Production-Utilization Balances Of interest to users and to those in the marketing system over time is how much of each grain can be obtained locally and how much will have to be imported from out of state. Except for soybeans during the late 1970's and early 1980's and grain sorghum in recent years, Alabama has been in the past, is now, and will probably continue to be a deficit state in almost all the grains used (3). Except for speaking of trends, no attempt will be made in this publication to delve into the reasons for this deficit situation. 6 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION Corn In 1985, domestic production of 24.4 million bushels of corn in Alabama represented only 27.0 percent of domestic use for feed manufacturing and use, seed use, and processing, table 3. This is close to the 29-30 percent average over a recent 20-year period reported in previous 5-year projects. While feed for the poultry industry accounts for a large part of domestic use, a corn processing plant in Decatur in recent years has also taken an increasing amount (13.6 million bushels, or 14.1 percent, in 1985) of corn, causing the deficit to be larger than it would be for livestock and poultry use alone. Shipment of Alabama-produced corn to ports for foreign export amounted to only 3.1 million bushels (3.2 percent of the total 96.7 million bushels disappearance in 1985), and some of this represents trans-shipments of out-of-state corn which is difficult to identify. Also, shipment to out-of-state points from Alabama was only 3.3 million bushels (3.4 percent of total disappearance), and this was more than offset by similar amounts coming in from these same states. Wheat While wheat production in Alabama in 1985 was down from its peak of 15.2 million bushels in 1983, it still represented a large increase from the 1 to 2 million annual production figures of the 1960's and 1970's. This is soft red winter wheat, which is mostly used as a feed ingredient. In spite of increased production in recent years, production in 1985 still represented only 76 percent of domestic use; over 8 million bushels were imported from out of state, table 3. TABLE 3. PRODUCTION-UTILIZATION BALANCE SHEET FOR CORN, SOYBEANS, WHEAT, GRAIN SORGHUM, AND OATS, ALABAMA, 1985 Item Corn Quantity, thousands of bushels Wheat Soybeans sorghum 3,350 12,800 8,180 24,510 10,342 635 5,869 3,382 2,178 22,406 2,104 76.0 15,787 27,810 31,560 75,157 1,090 40,931 10,181 4,590 56,792 18,365 66.2 2,543 12,650 2,213 17,406 11,270 87 141 485 176 12,159 5,247 100.1 Oats 414 1,435 1,873 3,722 2,025 224 82 635 2,966 756 61.6 9,864 Carry-in Jan. 1, 19851 .............. Production, 1985'1.................. . 24,375 . . . . . . . . . . 72,947 Imports from out of state' 107,186 Total supply, 1985 ............... . . .. 76,350 Feed manufacturing and use 2 . . . . 84 Seed use'......................... 2 13,642 Processing ....................... 2 . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 3,118 Shipments to ports Shipments to other states'........... .3,314 Estimated disappearance 1985 ....... .96,688 10,498 Carry-out Jan. 1, 19861 ............. 27.0 Production/domestic use, percent .... 'USDA figures (1, 2, 7). 'Estimated from Auburn University survey and USDA figures (1, 2, 7). ALABAMA'S GRAIN MARKETING SYSTEM 7 Soybeans Like wheat production in Alabama, soybean production was down in 1985 to 27.8 million bushels, table 3, from its peak of 53.75 million bushels in 1979. This has dropped even further beyond the 1985 survey year to 14.5 and 11.5 million bushels in 1986 and 1987 (estimated), respectively (2). Considering that 40.9 million bushels were needed for crushing alone in 1985, this meant that more soybeans were imported from out of state in 1985 than were grown in the State, and this deficit is expected to increase. As with corn, some soybeans (10.2 million bushels, or 17.9 percent, of the estimated disappearance of 56.8 million bushels in 1985) were shipped to ports for export overseas. However, these mostly came from south Alabama and, as with corn, some represented trans-shipments which came from out of state. The large crush of soybeans in Alabama, and the necessity for large imports, is required to provide a feed ingredient for an expanding poultry industry in Alabama, especially broilers, which increased from 285.1 million produced in 1965 to 561.8 million in 1985 (1). Grain Sorghum Grain sorghum production has increased dramatically in the last 20 years, from 0.3 million bushels in 1965 to 12.6 million in 1985, table 3. Unlike other grains, however, domestic use has virtually equaled production, with most of it utilized locally in Alabama as an ingredient in feed manufacture. Oats Oats are primarily required as an ingredient in certain kinds of feed manufacturing and have not been an important crop produced in Alabama. While 1.4 million bushels were produced in Alabama in 1985 and 1.9 million imported from out-of-state, table 3, much of the domestic production was used locally. That used by feed manufacturers was mainly imported from out of state. Alabama is a deficit state in oats and will probably continue to be because oats represent a needed ingredient in certain specialized types of feed. Origin-Destination Patterns Because the Southeast, including Alabama, is generally a deficit area in most grains, especially feed grains, there has always been a concern whether the several 5-year regional projects in which Alabama has participated since the 1950's provided adequate data about the origin of needed imports of the different grains. Most previous 8 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION surveys have attempted to identify the origins of each grain by state of origin and mode of transportation. Some studies even tried to de- tail out-of-state receipts by month and by sub-regions of specific Corn Belt States. The 1985 two-page survey, on which the data in this bulletin are based, was relatively simple, involving mostly origin by states and mode of transportation. However, it was also possible to break down receipts by type of firm within Alabama for different states of origin and destination and by mode of transportation. General Origins Because of the unique relationship between the deficit Southeastern States and the surplus Corn Belt States, the several 5-year regional projects have usually included two or three of the Corn Belt States (Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio) and seven to nine of the Southeastern States. As can be seen from table 4, 67.1 million bushels (54.5 percent of the total of five out-of-state grains coming to Alabama in 1985) came from Illinois and Indiana. Corn comprised 54.7 million bushels, or 81.5 percent, of this 67.1 million bushels. Soybeans were the primary import into Alabama from the surrounding states of Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Georgia, accounting for 19.7 million bushels TABLE 4. GRAIN RECEIPTS BY ALABAMA FIRMS, BY KIND OF GRAIN AND ORIGIN, 1985 Origin Firm-to-firm transfers ..... South Alabama ......... North Alabama ......... Receipts from farmers ..... South Alabama .......... North Alabama ......... From out of state ......... Illinois ................ Indiana ............... Tennessee ............. Kentucky .............. Minnesota............. Georgia............... Ohio.............. .... Mississippi ............ Missouri .............. Iowa.................. Nebraska..............Oklahoma............. Corn (8,161) .2,399 5,762 (20,462) 8,352 12,110 (72,947) 31,257 23,449 .870 4,029 4,732 2,122 3,920 463 1,127 - Grain receipts, thousands of bushels Soybeans Wheat sorain Oats (13,144) 12,561 583 (28,166) 16,474 11,692 (31,560) 5,836 2,061 10,774 4,826 1,452 1,367 - Total (1,344) 697 647 (9,962) 5,981 3,981 (8,180) 1,265 - 686 728 1,654 145 - 2,775 1,530 612 - 98 1,420 1,420 (1,183) 864 319 (8,524) 1,675 6,849 (8,582) 2,829 19 1,280 402 482 2,363 222 280 391 48 - (24,014) 16,521 182 7,493 (12) (67,126) 12 32,494 34,632 (1,073) (123,142) 407 41,594 8 25,537 6 13,616 9,985 1,180 9,500 5,997 4,142 3,055 2,482 200 1,987 - (182) 72 - 1,492 1,420 Florida...... ......... Kansas................ Wisconsin............. South Carolina ......... TOTAL............. 416 562 93,409 280 47 59,926 54 710 18,142 199 67 17,106 - -629 1,885 949 710 47 190,268 ALABAMA'S GRAIN MARKETING SYSTEM 9 (62.3 percent) of the 31.6 million bushels of soybeans imported. Minnesota was another important supplier, accounting for 1.2 million bushels, or 63.0 percent, of all oats imported. The Public Grain Elevator at Mobile Data to this point have not included receipts or shipments from the Port of Mobile. For analysis purposes, the Port was not considered part of the Alabama grain marketing system. This was adopted for all ports in the regional project which exported overseas. This makes sense for analysis purposes for Alabama because only 16.0 million bushels, or 35.0 percent, of the 45.8 million bushels of the five grains shipped through Mobile in 1985 came from Alabama, table 5. Much of the 16.0 million bushels of grain listed as coming from Alabama may have been trans-shipped to the Port from Alabama firms after coming from out of state. Therefore, it is difficult to estimate just how much grain shipped to the Port from Alabama firms was actually grown in Alabama. This is particularly so for a few south Alabama elevators owned by large exporting companies that receive both local and out-of-state grain and subsequently ship it to Mobile to load ships. Corn and soybeans were the primary grains shipped from the Port in 1985, along with minor amounts of wheat and grain sorghum. Other than Alabama, Illinois and Indiana were the primary suppliers of grain to Mobile for export overseas. These two Corn Belt States accounted for 13.0 million bushels (63.5 percent) of the corn and 5.1 million bushels (25.0 percent) of the soybeans shipped out of the Port. As mentioned earlier, some of the corn and soybeans listed as originating in Alabama may also have been partially from out of state. TABLE 5. GRAIN RECEIPTS BY PUBLIC GRAIN ELEVATOR, PORT OF MOBILE, BY KIND OF GRAIN AND ORIGIN, 1985 Origin Alabama........... . Illinois............ Indiana ........... . Missouri .......... Kentucky.......... Iowa .............. Kansas ............ Corn 3,118 8,650 4,326 691 1,730 1,039 - Grain receipts, thousands of bushels Soybeans Wheat soGrain 9,029 2,819 2,256 3,945 - Total 16,014 11,469 6,582 4,636 1,730 2,165 807 3,382 - 485 - - - 1,126 - 807 - Minnesota ......... Nebraska .......... . - 865 1,126 20,301 403 4,592 485 865 403 1,126 45,797 Ohio.............. TOTAL....... .20,419 10 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION Receipts by Mode of Transportationand Origin CORN. Firm-to-firm transfers of corn within Alabama and receipts from Alabama farmers by firms were virtually all by truck, table 6. Corn coming from out of state was generally equally distributed between rail and water, with 92.7 percent of the truck receipts from the surrounding states. Rail and water receipts mostly came to northern Alabama, the water receipts by way of the Tennessee River to firms in either Decatur or Guntersville. About 93.6 percent of the rail and water receipts from the Corn Belt States of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Ohio were received by these northern Alabama firms. TABLE 6. CORN RECEIPTS, BY MODE OF TRANSPORTATION AND ORIGIN, ALABAMA, 1985 Origin Firm-to-firm transfers ........... South Alabama ............... North Alabama ............... Receipts from farmers ........... South Alabama ............... North Alabama ............... From out of state ............... Illinois ...................... Indiana ..................... Georgia .............. .. Florida...................... Tennessee ................... Kentucky ................... Iowa .......................... . Minnesota ................... Missouri .................... Wisconsin................... Ohio........................ Receipts, by mode of transportation, thousands of bushels Truck Rail Water Total (7,984) 2,299 5,685 (20,462) 8,352 12,110 (3,211) 96 140 1,738 416 593 228 -91 -- (77) 77 - - - (8,061) 2,299 5,762 (19,856) 11,504 (72,947) 31,257 23,449 2,122 416 870 4,029 1,127 4,732 463 562 3,920 (32,776) 15,451 14,856 384 200 1,615 179 (36,960) 15,710 8,453 - - 77 2,186 1,036 4,732 463 562 3,741 SOYBEANS. Firm-to-firm transfers of soybeans within Alabama were mostly by truck, table 7. There were some rail transfers within Alabama, mostly to the crushing plants in Decatur and Guntersville, and also some firm-to-firm movement by water on the Tennessee River in northern Alabama. Alabama receipts from farmers were all by truck. As with corn, soybean receipts from out of state were mostly by truck from surrounding states (91.3 percent) and by water from the Corn Belt States of Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Minnesota, and Iowa (88.0 percent). In contrast with corn, however, there were considerable receipts by rail from the surrounding states (92.0 percent). ALABAMA'S GRAIN MARKETING SYSTEM 11 TABLE 7. SOYBEAN RECEIPTS, BY MODE OF TRANSPORTATION AND ORIGIN, ALABAMA, 1985 Receipts, by mode of transportation, Origin Truck Firm-to-firm transfers ........... South Alabama ............... North Alabama ............... Receipts from farmers ........... South Alabama ............... North Alabama ............... From out of state ............... Tennessee ................... Illinois ...................... Kentucky ................... Mississippi .................. Indiana ..................... Missouri .................... Minnesota ................... Georgia ..................... Iowa ........................ Florida ...................... South Carolina ............... (8,653) 583 8,070 16,474 11,692 (8,471) 4,440 173 1,857 577 87 433 577 -280 47 thousands of bushels Rail Water (3,844) 3,844 (647) 647 (11,900) 5,422 238 2,541 2,198 118 593 790 (11,189) 912 5,425 428 1,856 504 1,452 612 - Total (13,144) 583 12,561 (28,166) 16,474 (31,560) 10,774 5,836 4,826 2,775 2,061 1,530 1,452 1,367 612 280 47 These rail movements were mostly to the crushing plants in northern Alabama. WHEAT. Wheat movements within Alabama between firms and from farmers were all by truck in 1985, table 8. However, there was a definite pattern of rail receipts from the central and western Corn Belt (78.8 percent) and by water from Minnesota (84.0 percent). All wheat coming into the State by truck was from surrounding states. TABLE 8. WHEAT RECEIPTS, BY MODE OF TRANSPORTATION AND ORIGIN, ALABAMA, 1985 Receipts, by mode of transportation, Origin Truck Firm-to-firm transfers ........... South Alabama ................ North Alabama................ Receipts from farmers ........... South Alabama ............... North Alabama............... From out of state ............... . Minnesota ................... Nebraska.................... Oklahoma................... Illinois...................... Kentucky.................... Kansas...................... Tennessee................... Georgia..................... Missouri .................... Florida...................... TOTAL....................... thousands of bushels Rail Water - Total (1,344) 697 647 (9,962) 5,981 3,981 (8,180) 1,654 1,420 1,420 1,265 728 710 686 145 98 54 19,486 (1,344) 697 647 (9,962) 5,981 3,981 (373) - - - 8 286 25 54 11,679 (5,838) 1,420 1,420 1,048 720 710 400 120 5,838 (1,969) 1,654 217 98 1,969 12 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION GRAIN SORGHUM. Most in-state movements of grain sorghum were by truck, with some by rail to southern Alabama, table 9. With the exception of a little from Missouri, all truck receipts from out of state were from the surrounding states. Rail receipts consisted of 77.8 percent from one Corn Belt State, Illinois, and the rest, 22.2 percent, from surrounding states. Water receipts were mostly from Corn Belt States (87.1 percent). TABLE 9. GRAIN SORGHUM RECEIPTS, BY MODE OF TRANSPORTATION AND ORIGIN, ALABAMA, 1985 Origin Receipts, by mode of transportation, thousands of bushels Truck Rail Water Total 320 - Firm-to-firm transfers ......... .(1,183) South Alabama ............... 544 North Alabama ............... 319 Receipts from farmers ........... (8,524) 1,675 South Alabama ............... North Alabama ................ 6,849 From out of state ............... (4,334) Illinois .................. .... -2,800 2,243 Georgia ..................... Tennessee ................... 1,392 Minnesota ................... M issouri .................... 343 157 Kentucky.................... Mississippi .................. -Ohio ........................ 199 Florida ...................... Wisconsin ................... Iowa ........................ Indiana ..................... - - 6,849 864 319 (8,524) 1,675 (8,984) 2,829 2,363 1,682 482 391 402 280 222 199 67 48 19 (3,600) 120 280 120 200 - (1,050) 29 10 482 48 125 222 67 48 19 TABLE 10. OATS RECEIPTS, BY MODE OF TRANSPORTATION AND ORIGIN, ALABAMA, 1985 Origin . Firm-to-firm transfers ........... South Alabama............... North Alabama............... . Receipts from farmers ........... South Alabama............... North Alabama.............. From out of state ............... . Minnesota ................... Iowa ........................ Nebraska .................... Indiana ..................... Tennessee................... Illinois ...................... TOTAL....................... Receipts, by mode of transportation, thousands of bushels Truck Rail Water Total (182) 182(12) 12 (6) 6 -3 18 (12) 8 11 (1,856) 1,180 200 72 404 1,856 (182) 182 (12) 12 (1,873) 1,180 200 72 8 6 407 1,885 ALABAMA'S GRAIN MARKETING SYSTEM 13 OATS. Oats receipts were relatively unimportant, table 10. Within-state receipts and transfers were all by truck and out-of-state receipts were mostly from Minnesota by water. Receipts by Type of Firm and Origin CORN. Most within-state receipts in Alabama were from farmers by country elevators, table 11. Most of this will show up as further firm-to-firm transfers within the State to feed processors and poultry operations. Much of the rest will show up as shipped to the Public Grain Elevator of the State Docks in Mobile. TABLE 11. CORN RECEIPTS, BY TYPE OF FIRM AND ORIGIN, ALABAMA, 1985 Type of firm Within state Other Farme firms 15,368 Receipts, thousands of bushels Out of state Other armers firms 84 - Total 15,452 Country elevators. ................. Sub-terminal elevators ............. Terminal elevators ................. Export elevators ................... Soybean processors ................ 300 982 1,005 - - - 100 - 3,820 5,554 526 - 4,120 6,636 1,531 - Corn processors ................... Flour millers ...................... Feed processors ................... Feed lots ....................... Poultry operations ................. Other............................ Sub-total ...................... State Docks-Mobile ................ TOTAL....................... 1,384 1,143 280 20,462 20,462 4,141 3,928 8 8,161 3,118 11,279 240 139 479 479 12,024 10,383 34,400 5,761 72,468 17,301 89,769 12,024 16,148 39,471 6,188 101,570 20,419 121,989 As mentioned earlier, about 73 percent of the corn disappearance in Alabama came from out of state in 1985, mostly to the one corn products processor in Decatur and to feed processors and poultry operations in Alabama. Most of the corn shipped out of Mobile to overseas came from out of state, (17.3 million bushels or 84.7 percent of the total), and it is highly likely that some of the 3.1 million bushels listed as coming from within Alabama was trans-shipped through Alabama firms from out of state also. SOYBEANS. Receipts of soybeans from farmers within Alabama were mostly by country elevators which are subsidiaries of some larger parent organization, table 12. Some went directly to the Port of Mobile for export or to terminal elevators. Some from terminal elevators were then trans-shipped to the Port, which complicated origin-destination data. 14 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION TABLE 12. SOYBEAN RECEIPTS, BY TYPE OF FIRM AND ORIGIN, ALABAMA, 1985 Type of firm Receipts, thousands of bushels Within state Out of state Type of firmOther Other firms Farlers firms Farmes 23,602 250 520 2,916 854 280 - Total Country elevators. ................. Sub-terminal elevators ............. Terminal elevators ................. Export elevators ................... Soybean processors ................ Corn processors ................... 30 2,734 583 9,797 30,280 23,882 280 3,254 3,499 40,931 Flour millers ..................... 24 Feed processors ................... Feedlots......................... Poultry operations ................. Other........................... 28,166 Sub-total ...................... .State Docks-Mobile ................ TOTAL.................... .. 28,166 13,144 9,029 22,173 - 280 280 1,000 31,280 11,272 42,252 24 1,000 72,870 20,301 93,171 An interesting phenomenon in recent years is the increasing deficit of soybeans in Alabama as crushing has increased beyond 40 million bushels while production has decreased. Production peaked at 53.75 million bushels in 1979, dropped to 27.8 million bushels in 1985, and to an estimated 14.5 and 11.5 million bushels in 1986 and 1987, respectively (2). WHEAT. The type of wheat grown and imported into Alabama, soft red winter, is primarily used as a feed ingredient as compared with the hard bread wheats. However, of the 7.5 million bushels received by country elevators from Alabama farmers in 1985, nearly TABLE 13. WHEAT RECEIPTS, BY TYPE OF FIRM AND ORIGIN, ALABAMA, 1985 Type of firm Farmers Receipts, thousands of bushels Out of state Within state Other Other firms Farmers firms Total 7,544 180 1,340 688 377 2,076 1,600 5,681 19,486 4,592 24,078 7,544 Country elevators.................. . 150 Sub-terminal elevators ............. .700 Terminal elevators ................. 450 Export elevators................... 377 Soybean processors ................ Corn processors.................. Flour millers..................... 380 Feed processors................... Feedlots........................ .198 Poultry operations ................. 163 Other............................ Sub-total................... 9,962 State Docks-Mobile................ TOTAL.......................... 30 348 184 408 374 1,344 3,382 4,726 50 54 120 101 325 325 242 1,168 1,028 5,417 7,855 1,120 9,065 9,962 ALABAMA'S GRAIN MARKETING SYSTEM 15 half (3.4 million bushels) went to the Port of Mobile for export, table 13. Most of this was from south Alabama. Wheat needs in northern Alabama came mostly from out of state for use as feed ingredients for the poultry industry. Wheat production in Alabama declined from a peak of 24.9 million bushels in 1981 to 12.0 million bushels in 1985, and further declines to 5.7 and 5.3 million bushels (preliminary) are indicated for 1986 and 1987, respectively. If this trend continues, most wheat used for feed in the future will come from out of state. GRAIN SORGHUM. Grain sorghum receipts from within the State, as with other crops, came mostly first to country elevators from farmers, then to terminal elevators of feed processors or poultry operations for eventual use as a poultry feed ingredient instead of corn, table 14. Only a minor amount was exported through Mobile in 1985. In addition to Alabama-produced grain sorghum, there was about an equal amount imported from out of state, mostly by terminal elevaTABLE 14. GRAIN SORGHUM RECEIPTS, BY TYPE OF FIRM AND ORIGIN, ALABAMA, 1985 Type of firm Within state Other firms 6,238 150 800 - Receipts, thousands of bushels Out of state Other rmers firms 157 - Total Country elevators .................. Sub-terminal elevators ............. Terminal elevators ................. Export elevators ................. Soybean processors ................ - 200 -- 843 2,790 800 - 1,150 3,790 - Corn processors ................. Flour millers ...................... Feed processors................... Feedlots......................... 812 - 332 - - 1,944 - - Poultry operations ................. .524 Other........................... Sub-total................... 8,524 State Docks-Mobile ................ TOTAL...................... .8,524 694 1,183 485 1,668 200 200 3,949 8,232 - 5,167 18,289 485 18,774 8,232 TABLE 15. OATS RECEIPTS, BY TYPE OF FIRM AND ORIGIN, ALABAMA, 1985 Receipts, thousands of bushels Type of firm Within state Other Farmers firms 12 124 46 12 182 Out of state Other Farmers rmers firms - Total 12 1,868 129 46 12 2,067 Country elevators.................. Terminal elevators ................. Feed processors........................... Poultry operations ................. .Other............................ TOTAL...................... 12 1,868 5 1,873 16 ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION tors and poultry operations, virtually all destined as a feed ingredient for the poultry industry. OATS. While table 3 shows 1.4 million bushels of Alabama oats production, only a small amount of this is received by firms in Alabama from Alabama farmers, indicating use on farms where produced. Oats which enter the Alabama marketing system primarily came from out of state to terminal elevators in north Alabama and were distributed from there to other users, table 15. Shipments Firm-to-FirmTransfers Most firm-to-firm transfers in Alabama were of two types: (1) transfer to the parent institution by satellite country elevators after collection from farmers, primarily to feed manufacturing firms, poultry operations, and to the soybean processing plants; and (2) the importation of out-of-state grains by terminal elevators and the subsequent transfer to various users. Firm-to-firm transfers within Alabama represented 45.5 million bushels of grain movement in 1985, mostly by truck, table 16. Shipments to Farmers Shipments to farmers were relatively unimportant and consisted mostly of 3.3 million bushels of corn in 1985. Shipment to Ports Shipments by Alabama firms to ports for export overseas totaled only 17.2 million bushels in 1985 (10.2 million of soybeans, 3.4 million of wheat, 3.2 million of corn, and less than 0.5 million bushels of grain sorghum), table 16. This compares with domestic use of 100.2 million bushels for feed manufacture, 60.7 million for processing, and 2.1 million for seed, a total of 163.0 million bushels, table 3. Out-of-State Shipments As with shipments to ports, the out-of-state shipments of 13.9 million bushels also represented a relatively small amount compared with domestic use. These shipments were almost exclusively to surrounding states, unlike out-of-state receipts which were frequently from several states away. ALABAMA'S GRAIN MARKETING SYSTEM 17 TABLE 16. GRAIN SHIPMENTS BY ALABAMA FIRMS, BY KIND OF GRAIN AND DESTINATION, 1985 Shipments, thousands of bushels DestinationGrain Firm-to-firm transfers ..... South Alabama ......... North Alabama ......... Shipments to farmers...... South Alabama ......... North Alabama ......... Shipments to ports ........ Mobile................ New Orleans ........... Out of state shipments..... Ceorgia............... Tennessee............. Mississippi ............ Florida ................ North Carolina ......... South Carolina ......... Kentucky .............. Corn (17,640) 3,365 14,275 (3,327) 644 2,683 (3,118) 3,118 (3,314) 1,714 1,100 480 - Soybeans (14,128) 2,170 11,958 - Wheat (4,451) 1,192 3,259 - sorgin (8,452) 978 7,474 - Oats (870) 44 826 (12) 12 - Total (45,541) 7,749 37,792 (3,339) 656 2,683 (17,166) 16,014 1,152 (13,862) 8,141 3,130 725 580 97 28 9 (10,181) 9,029 1,152 (7,096) 5,300 424 220 - (3,382) 3,382 (2,178) 371 1,552 255 - (485) 485 (176) 112 64 - (1,098) 624 54 25 261 97 28 9 SUMMARY Alabama was a deficit state in corn, soybeans, wheat, and oats in 1985, but not in grain sorghum, and it is expected to continue to be a deficit state in the near future. The 73 percent deficit in corn is largely the result of the feed grain needs of a large poultry industry and the requirements of one large corn products processing plant. The 33.8 percent deficit in soybeans is largely due to the needs of two soybean processing plants in northern Alabama which processed over 40 million bushels in 1985 while Alabama production was only 27.8 million. In addition, 10.2 million bushels of soybeans were shipped to ports for export. Recent trends in the production of all the five grains have been downward since the 1985 survey on which the above figures are based, while use continues approximately level to upward. ALABAMA'S GRAIN MARKETING SYSTEM 19 REFERENCES (1) ALABAMA AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS SERVICE. 1985 and previous. Alabama Ag- ricultural Statistics, Montgomery, Ala. (2) . 1987 and previous. Alabama Farm Facts, Montgomery, Ala. (3) BEDRI, 0. A. K. 1979. Feed Grain Production and Utilization Balances for Alabama, Past, Present, and Future. Unpublished M.S. Thesis, Auburn University, Auburn, Ala. (4) CAVANAUGH, JON E. AND JAMES L. STALLINGS. 1972. The Feed Grain Market for Alabama. Ala. Agr. Exp. Sta., Auburn Univ., Ala., Bull. 425. (5) HEADLEY, LEO M. AND JAMES L. STALLINGS. 1980. Grain Firms and Grain Movements in Alabama in 1977. Ala. Agr. Exp. Sta., Auburn Univ., Ala., Bull. 523. (6) HURST, JAMES R. AND MORRIS WHITE. 1968. Feed Grain Situation in Alabama. Ala. Agr. Exp. Sta., Auburn Univ., Ala., Bull. 379. (7) USDA. 1987 and previous. Crop Production. USDA, Agr. Statistics Board, National Agr. Statistics Service, Washington, D.C. ALD&.>1~~N LA1'eLI~I~51i I \li il 111 agric ulunit in tilt1 ts(Xtti ii A\ubiurn h l'n i\ edtrsxtsre i\ niculturaI hrnnducerS in chL reigion int A\laba.nt I\ iuI\ zenl (,1 St te stake in1 this reseatrchL pm t>grall1, Since all% alnt il )ie citi has a 0 00 O0 f