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October, 2019
Worry Free Crop Storage
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Warm or wet conditions at harvest and multi-staged crops are potential ingredients for storage problems,” says Harry Brook, crop specialist at the Alberta Ag-Info Centre. “You have spent a lot of money and time getting the harvest in the bin. Take the time to monitor the stored grain’s condition and cool those bins down. Don’t get an unpleasant surprise when selling the grain with discounts or by being rejected for heated grain or insect problems.” Brook says producers should clean up spilled grain from around their bins to prevent those piles from becoming breeding sites for beetles.
Figure 1 Oats
“Most empty grain bins will have some form of insect or mites feeding on the cereal crop residue. These bins need to be swept or vacuumed out with the debris being either burned or buried.” “Malathion can be sprayed into a bin to control insects in the nooks and crannies feeding on crop debris, but only in those bins that will be used to store cereals. It is forbidden to use malathion in bins used to store oilseeds. Empty bins can also be treated with diatomaceous earth prior to storing all crops. Diatomaceous earth can also be added to the crop as the bin is filling as a preventative measure.” Storing the crop is risky, especially with hot or damp grain, says Brook. “Safe storage is a combination of both the temperature of the grain and its moisture level when stored. Figure 1 shows the relationship between percent moisture, grain temperature and
Figure 2 Canola days of safe storage for oats. All cereals show similar relationships between temperature, moisture and safe storage. Figure 2 is for canola. “Be warned that deterioration can start to occur before the time expires,” he says. “It still has to be either dried or aerated. Grain aeration is best used in the fall to cool the crop temperatures down, allowing crop to be safely stored over the winter.”
