AGRIVIAGRIVIAGRIVIAGRIVI
  • Products
    • AGRIVI 360
      • Farm Insights
      • Farm Enterprise
      • Farm Advisory
      • Agriculture Supply Chain
      • AGRIVI Engage
      • AGRIVI Ed
    • AGRIVI IoT
      • Fleet
      • Meteo
      • Soil
  • Industries
    • Farms
    • Enterprise Farms
    • Cooperatives
    • Food & Beverages
    • Banks
    • Input Manufacturers
    • Agronomic Advisory
  • Resources
    • ROI Calculator
    • Farm Digitalization Score
    • Blog
    • News
    • Case Studies
  • Partnership
    • Login to Partner Portal
    • Become a Partner
  • GET A DEMO
  • English
    • Hrvatski
    • Français
    • Deutsch
    • Italiano
    • Polski
    • Română
    • Srpski
    • Español
Farm Practices That Will Take Grain Storage to a New Level
    Home Blog Agronomy Farm Practices That Will Take Grain Storage to a New Level

    Farm Practices That Will Take Grain Storage to a New Level

    By Ines Hajdu | Agronomy, Blog Comments are Closed | 10 October, 2017 | 0

    There are numerous varieties of crops that are grown for human consumption throughout the world. Still, grains such as wheat, maize, rice, sorghum, and barley play a major role in the human diet and represent the main source of income for the vast majority of farmers.

    The demand for grains is stable throughout the year. However, grain production is seasonal, and in many regions, there is only one harvest per year. Therefore, once the grains reach their maturity, everything else can wait, except the harvest and post-harvest management.

    Grain Maturity

    The Decision That Stands Between Success and Failure

    From the moment that grains are ready for harvest, what happens next will determine a farmer’s success or failure. In other words, farmers are faced with one big decision: whether to sell the grains as soon as possible or to store them and wait for the best market price.

    Harvesting Sell or Store

    In general, grain prices are seasonally lower in the time of harvest. Though, it’s not surprising that many farmers prefer to store their crops and wait for the best market price. But still, storage has its own risks as well. Suitable storage facilities bring additional costs, and if not managed properly, grains may soon deteoriate and lose their quality. Besides that, the market price is always unpredictable and the longer the crops stay in storage, the greater the risk.

    Practices That Will Determine the Success of Grain Storage

    Many farmers wonder how to improve storage management and preserve the yield. Storing the grains into permanent structures, such as silos or bins instead of temporary storages, is definitely a good beginning. Now, let’s focus on practices that will ensure proper grain storage:

    1. Preparation of grain silos or bins

    The first step before storing the grains into the silos or bins is to make sure that the storage is ready for new grains. In this purpose, farmers have to remove any grain left from the previous harvest and thoroughly clean their silos or bins. In case of insect pest or disease infestation from the previous season, best practices recommend spraying with suitable chemicals and cleaning the storage in detail.

    2. Storing quality and healthy grains

    It’s extremely important to check harvested grains for the presence of insect pests or diseases. Proper sanitation practices will prevent the occurrence of pests. However, in case an infection still occurs, best practices recommend treating the grains with appropriate pesticides in order to prevent the infection from spreading onto healthy grains.

    Grain Storage Management

    3. Drying, aeration, and temperature control

    The moisture content is one of the burning factors that will determine how long the grain can remain in storage without loosing its quality. Therefore, grains should be dryed additionaly, in order to reach the proper moisture content, depending on the requirements and production purpose of each crop, as well as the duration of storage. Another important aspect to consider is the temperature of stored grains and the storage itself. It’s extremely important to monitor grain temperature and to keep grains cool and dry.

    Regular aeration will help maintain a fairly uniform grain temperature throughout the storage. Generally, high grain moisture and high temperatures are favorable for insect or fungal infections, and grain detoriation. However, grains can be stored with a higher moisture content if the temperatures are lower.

    Grain Moisture

    4. Regular monitoring

    Regular monitoring of stored grains and storage conditions is just as important as the establishment for achieving adequate storage conditions. According to this, every successful farmer will check silos or bins on a regular basis. Consequently, a farmer will be able to detect any changes in temperature or the presence of insect pest or disease infestation and handle it on time.

    Grain Storage Preparation

    By following the aforementioned practices, farmers will minimize potential storage risks and preserve the quality of their grains until the market price is high enough to sell the goods. Regardless of how the storage seems complicated and hard to manage, farmers just have to take into consideration various demands their crops require and carefully manage each storage practice.

     

    Text sources: Canadian Grain Commission || Alberta.ca

    Image sources: University of Arkansas

    No tags.
    Ines Hajdu

    More posts by Ines Hajdu
    Recent posts

    Do You Have Trouble Making Your Farm Work Efficient? Keep Your Farm Running Smooth...
    Read more

    Technology Helps Improving Sustainable Water Management in Agriculture
    Read more

    Making Berries Farm Work Operations More Efficient with AGRIVI
    Read more

    INDUSTRIES

    • Farms
    • Enterprise Farms
    • Cooperatives
    • Food & Beverages
    • Banks
    • Input Manufacturers
    • Agronomic Advisory

    PRODUCTS

    • AGRIVI 360 Family
      • Farm Insights
      • Farm Enterprise
      • Farm Advisory
      • Agriculture Supply Chain
      • AGRIVI Engage
      • AGRIVI Ed
    • AGRIVI loT Family
      • Fleet
      • Meteo
      • Soil

    COMPANY

    • About Us
    • Careers
    • Contact Us
    • Partner Program
      • Dealer Program
      • Solution Program

    RESOURCES

    • ROI Calculator
    • Farm Digitalization Score
    • Blog
    • News
    • Case Studies
    • Get a Demo
    • Log In

    GET A DEMO

    LOG IN

    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    ©2023 AGRIVI. All Rights Reserved
    • Products
      • AGRIVI 360
        • Farm Insights
        • Farm Enterprise
        • Farm Advisory
        • Agriculture Supply Chain
        • AGRIVI Engage
        • AGRIVI Ed
      • AGRIVI IoT
        • Fleet
        • Meteo
        • Soil
    • Industries
      • Farms
      • Enterprise Farms
      • Cooperatives
      • Food & Beverages
      • Banks
      • Input Manufacturers
      • Agronomic Advisory
    • Resources
      • ROI Calculator
      • Farm Digitalization Score
      • Blog
      • News
      • Case Studies
    • Partnership
      • Login to Partner Portal
      • Become a Partner
    • GET A DEMO
    • English
      • Hrvatski
      • Français
      • Deutsch
      • Italiano
      • Polski
      • Română
      • Srpski
      • Español
    AGRIVI

    Interested in buying Farm Management Software?

    Download your free guide.

    checked

    Thank you

    In a few minutes, please check your email inbox where we have sent you a copy of the ebook.

    *Please check your spam or promotions folder in case the email doesn’t arrive.

    checked

    Thank you

    In a few minutes, please check your email inbox where we have sent you a copy of the ebook.

    *Please check your spam or promotions folder in case the email doesn’t arrive.

    checked

    Thank you

    In a few minutes, please check your email inbox where we have sent you a copy of the report.

    *Please check your spam or promotions folder in case the email doesn’t arrive.

    checked

    Thank you

    In a few minutes, please check your email inbox where we have sent a link to the webinar.

    *Please check your spam or promotions folder in case the email doesn’t arrive.

    checked

    Thank you

    In a few minutes, please check your email inbox for further instructions.

    *Please check your spam or promotions folder in case the email doesn’t arrive.

    We will get back to you as soon as possible.