New elevator to serve growing Napanee crop

NAPANEE — Over the last decade, Herb Hart figures cropland around Napanee has more than doubled and with the closest elevator nearly an hour’s drive down the busy 401 Highway, he’s stepping up to fill that gap in local grain storage.

"I’ve sat and lined up with my trucks for three or four hours the same as everyone else," says the crop farmer and owner of a new 8,000-metric ton capacity elevator, Hart Acre Grains. "To keep the combines running, it all had to be loaded onto transports. It was quite a chore for most guys."

The elevator, which is a Greenfield Ethanol satellite for the first year, has a 10,000-bushel receiving leg, 90-ft. scales, and a two-dryer system that can handle corn and soybeans at the same time. Hart plans to add another 6,000 metric tons of capacity next year.

He kicked things off with an open house on Sept. 26 but expects business will be a bit slow at first while farmers fill contracts signed before he started construction in mid-May. Hart says no one is going to get rich in a drought-plagued season but thinks corn in the area will yield well enough to fill his bins.

"As a farmer, I’m a true optimist. I’m hoping we’ll be pleasantly surprised."

If the combines are in the fields, Hart says he’ll be open for business. Hart Acre Grains can be reached at 613-561-4220 or 613-561-4219.