11. LEASES

Granite Falls Energy

GFE has long-term lease agreements with leasing companies for 170 rail cars for the transportation of GFE’s ethanol with various maturity dates through January 2027. The rail car lease payments are due monthly in the aggregate amount of approximately $145,000.

GFE has long-term lease agreements with leasing companies for 115 hopper cars to assist with the transport of the distillers’ grains by rail with various maturity dates through November 2025. The rail car lease payments are due monthly in the amount of approximately $76,000.

Rent expense for GFE’s leases was approximately $3,121,000, $3,151,000 and $3,163,000 for the fiscal years ended October 31, 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Heron Lake BioEnergy

HLBE has long-term lease agreements with leasing companies for 138 rail cars for the transportation of the Company’s ethanol with various maturity dates through January 2027. The rail car lease payments are due monthly in the aggregate amount of approximately $122,000.

HLBE has long-term lease agreements with leasing companies for 110 hopper cars to assist in with the transport of the distillers’ grains by rail with various maturity dates through May 2027. The rail car lease payments are due monthly in the amount of approximately $64,000.

Rent expense for the HLBE’s leases was approximately $2,374,000, $2,339,000 and $2,170,000 for the fiscal years ended October 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017, respectively.

At October 31, 2019, the Company had the following minimum future lease for payments, which at inception had a non-cancelable term of more than one year:


November 1, 2019 to October 31, 2020	$	4,539,550
November 1, 2020 to October 31, 2021		4,465,800
November 1, 2021 to October 31, 2022		4,315,800
November 1, 2022 to October 31, 2023		4,089,000
November 1, 2023 to October 31, 2024		3,474,600
Thereafter		5,778,250
Total minimum lease commitments	$	26,663,000