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Feature Stories (Vol. 109 No. 12--3/21/2007)

Millers super-size their custom grain cleaning operation

By Caroline Downs

So how do you improve on a state-of-the-art seed cleaning plant that still operates with top efficiency five years after you designed and built it?

You super-size it, if you’re Doug Miller of Miller Grain Cleaning, Inc., Donnybrook.

"Well, you should learn something after you build one," he said, referring to the seed cleaner he finished constructing in 2002, "to make it a little different." Then he smiled. "I didn’t think we were ever going to build something bigger," he said.

Doug’s 2007 cleaner kept many of the best elements of his 2002 model: the Carter Day precision grader for sizing grains by length, the Oliver gravity table that separates kernels by density, an extensive clean-out system that runs the length of the machine and accepts waste material from every element of the cleaner, the intake auger that swings out from the side of the machine to load grain from a bin or a truck into the holding tank, and even the nifty hydraulic cylinders that slide the generator 20 inches past the edge of the trailer so maintenance can be done from two sides.

However, Doug had an eye on the ever-increasing size of modern farms and the corresponding expectations of tomorrow’s producers when he designed his new model. "This one is 57 feet long, nine feet longer than the last one," he said, nodding toward the Delta Cimbria Air Screen, the new sieve machine that grades kernels by width and required the extra space.

"This came from Denmark," he said. "I looked for the best one out there. This one has 20 different sets of screens to meet the demands of farmers. We can switch from crop to crop."

Doug focused on his customers as he planned the 2007 model. "Growers are fussy about what type of seed they put in the ground," he said. "There’s no room for error. It’s the first thing you think about. You get better emergence and optimize the potential of that crop."

According to Doug, the ease of changing the screens in the Cimbria will allow for one person to operate the cleaner, rather than two people as his 2002 machine requires. He also believes the Cimbria will provide more versatility and allow for greater quantities when cleaning seed.

"It’s going to do the same quality of job, but it should be able to do more bushels," he said. "This should increase our capacity by 50 to 100 bushels per hour. We should see 400 to 500 bushes per hour of high quality seed. With the changing farms today, farmers want better quality seed."

When parked side by side in the Millers’ shop, the Cimbria air screen on the 2007 machine dwarves the 2002 model and provides the most obvious difference between the two. However, Doug designed other changes, too.

He pointed out the single control panel. "More is computerized on this," he said. "It’s the one thing I’m a little worried about. It could be difficult, out in the weather we clean in."

As he walked around the cleaner, he gestured toward several motors and the alarm system connected to them. "There are 45 motors on this," he said. "You can’t watch every one. This is fully automatic, with an alarm for every motor. It’s your favorite hired man!"

Dave Miller, Doug’s father, pointed out the plastic lining that coats the surfaces of the troughs and augers that handle grain within the new machine. "It’s more flexible and provides for gentle handling," he said, "and a lot of our augers have variable speed control." Then he proceeded to open several of the miniature metal doors found throughout the cleaner. "Every place we have grain flowing, we have little inspection doors," he added.

"We’re fussy, and I like things neat," Doug said. "It’s more operator-friendly."

He also upgraded the power on the new model, from a 200 horsepower generator that produces 80 kilowatts of electricity for the 2002 cleaner, to a 350 horsepower generator that runs 150 kilowatts. "You could power a small town with that one," he said, tapping the side of the generator. "But it takes more power. We’re dealing with bigger farms, and there are a few more bigger motors on this [cleaner]."

Like the 2002 machine and the family’s three other cleaners, the 2007 model was built in the Millers’ fully-equipped shop from the ground up. "We started with the frame and axle system," said Doug, who has degrees from North Dakota State University in plant science and farm management and experience with operating the family’s other seed plants. "There’s nothing we didn’t take an extra minute to think about before we did it."

He was assisted on the project by his father and Jerad Mahlum, Bowbells, who joined the business last summer and worked at cleaning grain before devoting his time to the new seed plant. The three men spent more hours with the 2007 cleaner than with their families over the eight months needed for construction. "We went fishing on the eighth of June," recalled Dave. "Then we came back and got started on it." He paused and laughed. "I’m ready to go (fishing) again!"

"We’ve been in here seven days a week since June, working 16 to 17 hours a day," Doug said, adding that they also did a little work on the 2002 plant. The men filled three stenographer’s pads of quad-lined paper with the diagrams they sketched and notated for each and every part of the 2007 model before they started cutting, welding or bolting down that segment.

Leon Huizenga of Minot did all the electrical wiring on the cleaner. Doug also expressed gratitude to Farmers Union Oil in Kenmare and Butch Albers of Berthold for loaning equipment needed during the construction process. "I should thank my mom, Sharon Miller, too," Doug added. "She made us dinner and supper every day and brought it out here to the shop. That’s a full-time job in itself!"

The final adjustments were made to the 2007 cleaner the morning of February 26th. Then, it was hitched to a shiny new black Freightliner, plastic still covering the interior seats, and pulled out of the shop and around the yard.

"There’s only so much time you can put in the shop," Doug said as he took a moment from checking the cleaner’s balance to express his relief at finishing the project. "We’re going to pull it out and test it on some certified grain. If there are no bugs, I’m heading up to Mohall, Rugby and Minot for three weeks and catch up on those guys there."

In the meantime, Dave and Jerad planned to get the 2002 model on the road. "That will be more local," Doug said. "Jerad and Dave will run that one together for a while."

Despite the expanded size of the new model, the machine passed inspection by the North Dakota Department of Transportation, and travelers in the area can expect see the green, blue and tan-colored seed plant on the highway. "It’ll be rolling down the road pretty solid for the next three months or so," Doug said, then laughed. "It’ll have to work for quite a few years to pay for itself!"

With the new machine, Miller Grain Cleaning is ready to clean or condition anything--cereal grains, canola, even flax. "We’re branching out, cleaning from Crosby to Rugby and trying to make all these guys happy," Doug said. "We’re certified for any certified registered or foundation seed. We’re certified for organic as well."

Promotional materials distributed by Miller Grain Cleaning promote the new model as the fifth mobile seed conditioning plant built by the family in the past 30 years of business, with 40 years of combined experience from Dave and Doug in providing up-to-date technology to meet farmers’ changing needs.

The material also explains the process by which the seed is cleaned and conditioned in the machine and how this saves money: "By being able to clean his seed when he wants to, spring, summer or fall, the farmer doesn’t have to haul his seed anywhere because he can clean right on his own farm."

Customers from more than 200 farms already rely on Miller Grain Cleaning, and Doug shared their impatience to take the company’s four cleaners on the road this season. "We appreciate everybody’s patience," he said. "We’re looking forward to getting out there. Hopefully, we’ll get around and get everybody satisfied again this year."