News

Longer storage, higher risk: protecting grain in the bin

A specialist encourages farmers to mitigate threats to stored grain.

John Mays with Central Life Sciences says there’s a tendency to not pay close enough attention to crops in the bin.

“They think that a probe every once in a while in the top of the bin, if it comes back clean everything is great. But being able to look at that grain mass and take samples from different parts of the grain mass is really important.”

With many growers holding corn and soybeans in storage longer this year while waiting for the right marketing opportunity, he tells Brownfield protecting grain quality is critical.

“You could have a colony of bugs that’s in the center or some other part of the grain mass that you’re not reaching that could do extreme amounts of damage to your commodities that are being stored for longer than 3 to 6 months.”

Mays recommends grain protection protocols that include insect mitigation products that help preserve quality, reduce shrink, and protect value throughout the storage period.