
A Walkabout Mother Bin provides 4000-bushels of portable, in-field storage during harvest. And with awe-inspiring dimensions of 58′ long x 13’9″ wide x 12’11” high, it’s #onebigmother. Can a mighty machine like the Walkabout Mother Bin work in the steep, rugged terrain of the Pacific Northwest?
Last month’s travels took me on a scouting trip to the Pacific Northwest. There was wheat as far as the eye can see, and I am not exaggerating. A stickler for facts, I wanted to do my homework prior to the trip so I read articles and watched all the YouTube videos I could find about the region. I thought surely the articles and videos were just showcasing the worst of the hills, and that things wouldn’t really be that extreme. But, I stood corrected! The Pacific Northwest is a unique region all its own, and the growers there are doing what no one else in the world is doing.

A Few Quick Facts About Wheat Farming in the Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest wheat farmers grow multiple types of wheat: soft white, hard red, winter, hard red spring, hard white and durum. The Palouse farms are primarily dry land wheat farms producing record setting yields. As noted in the Washington Wheat Facts, acre per acre, no state can match Washington’s abundant wheat production. The state’s wheat farms produce less than half the amount of grain that No. 1-ranked Kansas does. But they efficiently manage their fields to produce nearly twice as many bushels to the acre, and they do it on a fourth of the acreage! In the rolling Palouse country of southeast Washington, Whitman County has consistently been the No. 1 wheat-producing county in the United States every year since 1978.
Washington is also one of the nation’s leading wheat exporting states, with 85-90 percent of its production exported. Most of the grain travels on the Snake-Columbia river system to Portland. From there it is loaded onto ocean freighters and exported. The wheat is used for milling flour, Asian noodles, steam breads, pastries, pancakes, cakes and cookies. All things most of us love to consume.

A First-Hand Look
I got a first-hand look at the vast country in the Pacific Northwest. I am very appreciative of that. I watched harvest at its extremes from the buddy seat of the combine, examining the steep terrain and the challenges the growers of the Pacific Northwest face. Among those challenges: producing high yields, facing long turn around times to market, and using combines that sometimes run at less-than-maximum capacity because the weight of the wheat in the hooper works against the hillside. That leaves crews with downtime, waiting to dump harvested wheat and for trucks to return to the field.
So, back to the initial question… Can a mighty machine like the Walkabout Mother Bin work in the Pacific Northwest? Yes! Manufactured in the USA of ten-gauge steel, a Walkabout Mother Bin is solidly constructed, even down to the paint job. Used on the headline of the field where trucks are loading, a Mother Bin will provide exactly what many North American farmers need – extra in-field storage capacity to reduce both trucks and labor and keep the combine running.
Post Note
Two weeks to the day upon returning from my trip a bin was sold and delivered into Pendleton, OR. Harvest 2020 for this grower is in the bin. The Mother Bin was a game changer for him and is why we do what we do. Getting to watch the bin work for them, in their fields, was a thrill. Walkabout Mother Bins is confidently represented in the Pacific Northwest by FEI, Inc.
Contact them by calling 800-437-9702. Ask to have a representative contact you today about how a Mother Bin can fit into your operation. Other Dealer locations can be found on our website, including Lamb Implement in Onida, SD (800-658-3661).
Crystal Kopecky
Director of Sales
605-530-4346