Storing grains the right way is important if farmers want to preserve the quality and value of the crops they worked so hard to cultivate. After all, stored grains are any farmer’s most valued asset, and damaged or spoiled grain could mean loss of profit. Whether you’re an experienced farmer or are ‘new to the field’, it’s always a good idea to understand the most efficient grain storage techniques and best practices that will ensure the longevity of your produce.
Efficient grain storage serves multiple purposes:
- It maintains the nutritional value of grains.
- Farmers can store grains until market conditions are more favorable and boost profits.
- Farmers can minimize financial losses by reducing the risk of spoilt grains.
This blog discusses the most effective grain storage ideas for farmers to ensure their grain storage is safe and that their grain storage bins perform efficiently through every season.
1. Understanding grain storage
As you prepare to keep your grains in a safe storage container, ask yourself questions like how much capacity you need, or by how much you need to expand your existing storage, how much time you plan to store your grains, or if you need permanent or temporary storage. Make sure that any decision you take is based on long-term grain storage needs. Another important consideration is the financial and manpower investment required to build a properly drained site for permanent or temporary storage structures.
2. Pre-season requirements
Conduct a pre-season check on your equipment, safety circuits and electrical parts, while ensuring that all components are in place and properly functioning. Any equipment with solid state or computerized controls systems needs special attention before its harvest season. Make sure all connections are secure, and the control cabinets are clean and free of dust and debris.
3. Optimal storage conditions
Grains must be stored at an optimal temperature and moisture which needs a well-regulated aeration system. The amount of air moving through the grain will determine how long it will take to aerate it. Aeration cycles can even run up to 200 hours. Make sure your aeration fans operate long enough in each bin to complete the optimal length of an aeration cycle. Too long a cycle will over-dry the drain and a short cycle could leave moisture in it and risk spoilage.
4. Keep grain cool
While good aeration will maintain the temperature of the bin, seasonal and climatic variations can still affect a bin’s contents. Mold and Insect infestations are the main reasons behind grain degradation, especially during warmer weather when a small number of insects can escalate to a major infestation within weeks. The key is to maintain a cool storage bin because insect and mold activity increases between 70-90 degrees. During cooler seasons, like fall or winter, store your grain at 10 – 15 degrees of the average outside temperature and between 40 to 60 degrees during spring and summer.
5. Keep grain dry
Similarly, keeping your grain just the right amount of dry is also important. Maintaining optimal temperature can be challenging, but combined with managing moisture content, you can protect your grain and its quality for a longer duration. For grains being stored for more than six months, moisture content should be maintained between 11-14% depending on the type of grain, the region and the season. For example, during summers, the moisture content for barley should be around12% and around13% for wheat, but only 8% for oilseeds. Higher moistures levels provide a ripe environment for insects and mold.
6. Routine quality checks
Regardless of the season, check your stored grain every week. If you wait too long between checks, you could end up having to empty out at least a third of your bin. Your checks should include the grain temperature, moisture content, noticeable smells, and crusting which is a certain indication that your grain’s quality is compromised. If your storage bins are not fitted with a temperature cable system, use a handheld temperature probe to check the temperature a couple feet below the surface of the grain. Carbon-dioxide (CO2) sensors are also useful, because high CO2 levels are indicative of pests.
7. Stay Safe
While checking the temperature or condition of the grain, you must be extremely cautious. Entering a grain storage bin can be very dangerous. Make sure all electrical equipment is turned off properly, and never enter a bin alone. Have a partner stay outside the bin and visually track you in case of an accident.
8. Use sensors smartly
Temperature sensing cables are used commonly to check the temperature of the grain inside a storage bin. However, because stored grain is an insulator, it’s a good idea to spread out the temperature sensors on the cable for a more accurate reading. Keep a temperature cable in the center of the bin because that’s where most of the foreign matter – notorious for increasing moisture and blocking airflow – will collect. If you have another sensor cable, place it towards the side that faces the south because that’s where your bin gets more heat from.
9. Avoid grain peaks
It’s always better to maintain a flat top surface of the stored grain. If the grain is forming a peak in your storage bin, it will warm up much faster and will also restrict air flow.
10. Use appropriate storage bins
And finally, the bin itself. Poor quality bins can damage your grain no matter how well you maintain the temperature or aerate your grain and how many grain storage ideas you have implemented. Traditional silos are still common, but newer alternatives like grain bags and bunkers are easier on the pocket and offer more flexibility. Make sure your grain storage bins are always clean, dry, and properly sealed.
Conclusion
When it comes to grain storage, maximizing grain quality with capacity is the secret sauce. GrainStore brings you a range of solutions that help optimize grain storage that make it so easy to maintain precise control over the conditions within your storage facilities. Download the GrainStore Pro farm management app from Google Play Store and Apple App Store right now for more best practices and grain storage ideas.