Protect Your Investment – It is a Big One!

Now that harvest has come and gone for another year, and your grain is in the bin sitting patiently to be delivered, we need not forget about how valuable our bins are now more than ever. Maybe your bins are not as full as they have been before, but they are considerably more valuable than they have ever been.

Sample your Bins

With grain bins seemingly increasing in size, we must keep in mind monitoring these large assets is essential to keeping the quality of grain going in and coming out is consistent. Taking a uniform, representative sample is the first step to knowing how your grain bins may store over winter. One of the best ways to store this sample is to treat it the same way the bins will be treated. Storing the sealed pail/bag in the bin door, or right at the bin is usually the more representative. Storing samples in a warm shop can affect how the sample will test throughout the year.

Bin Monitoring

There are plenty of options nowadays to electronically or manually monitor storage on the farm. OPI cables are an option for many farmers to use in order to affordably and conveniently monitor grain temperature and moisture in grain bins. Make sure they get used!

Monitoring your bins can be as simple as a quick drive by on a frosty or snowy morning to see if the frost is staying on the roof of the bin. If not, it might be time to get the ladder out and do a visual and smell test.

Preparing for Longer Storage

If you’ve positioned yourself to have grain sitting in air bins, you have the option to cool the grain to better prepare it for storage deeper into the summer months. Allowing your fans to run on cool dry days with temperatures dropping to -15 degrees and lower will help freeze dry your grain. In situations when your grain is cool like this, it can give you piece of mind to storing it when the ambient temperatures start to increase in the spring and summer months.

If you do not have the option of having air bins, there are still good options to help keep your mind at ease when trying to store long term. The practice of flipping grain through the winter is an effective way to avoid grain spoiling in your bins. Pulling a load or two out and turning the bin over can allow bins to aerate and move warm spots around, decreasing the temperature in the center of the bin.

For further information please contact the Synergy AG rep in your area!

With Christmas just around the corner, we wanted to remind everyone to enjoy their families and stay safe through the holiday season. With times seemingly getting busier, it is essential to take time for yourselves and your families to rest, recuperate and recover from the stresses throughout the year.