Farmers might find themselves too pressed for time during harvest to worry about proper grain storage, but even a few spare minutes cleaning yards and sanitizing bins can help.
Brent Elliott, infestation control and sanitation officer with the Canadian Grain Commission, says growers should start by ensuring bins have been thoroughly swept or vacuumed before refilling.
“Basically, you want to get everything out of that bin that you possibly can,” said Elliott
“Maybe there’s a just little bit of residue left in your bins … but it’s probably enough for a couple of hundred insects to live on pretty happily.”
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According to Elliott, the most common insects that survive in stored grain — the rusty grain beetle and the red flour beetle — are as likely to be found outside the bin as inside.
Old piles of spilled grain in the bin yard provide a good habitat for the insects, who can then move into bins when the weather outside gets cold.
Ensuring that grain is properly conditioned is another effective preventive measure.
To reduce the chance of infestation, cereals should be stored at a moisture content lower than 14.5 percent and no warmer than 18 C.
Grain temperature should be monitored during harvest and after freezeup.
Grain that is augered in at temperatures of 20 C or higher is more prone to insects.
Even when outside temperatures drop significantly, grain in the core of the bin will be well insulated and will retain its heat.
“You really want to get all of your grain throughout that bin down to at least 18 C, and we even say 15 C at times,” Elliott said.
“At 15 C, you’re not killing any insects but they’re not reproducing and they’re not feeding.”
During harvest, growers should consider running aeration fans at night to cool down grain.
Additional aeration can be used during the dead of winter. Under the right conditions, winter aeration can reduce grain temperature to below 0 C, which can kill insects.
“Our cold winters are a wonderful, wonderful tool, if we remember to use them.”
Elliott said grain insects that have found temporary summer homes in spilled grain piles outside a bin will begin looking for warmer living quarters when fall temperatures begin to drop.
brian.cross@producer.com
