Sins of the fall are visited upon the spring

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Published: March 25, 2010

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A lot of wet canola was bagged last fall. Nobody knows how much is frozen solid, how much is heating and how much can be salvaged.

Producers would ideally try to store the higher value canola in the yard and bag the lower value cereal crops in the field.

However, it’s not an ideal world and in years such as 2009, producers have to make do.

Many growers figured they’d lose the canola if they left it in the field, so they bagged it in hopes of salvaging something in the spring, says George Adair of Adair Sales and Marketing in Swift Current, Sask.

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Jim Bessel of the Canola Council of Canada said this is the first time since the 1980s that prairie farmers have had to deal with such a large amount of wet canola entering winter storage.

“We’ve seen isolated drying and seasons where there was some around, but not such a late season and not this much of it. It represents a learning opportunity for most producers,” he said.

Adair said plastic storage offered an opportunity that wasn’t around years ago.

“Bagging the stuff wet is just fine, but unloading can become real complicated,” said Adair, who sells Loftness bagging equipment.

“The canola will set up in there like a loaf of bread. No unloading machine can handle it unless it can actually grind into the grain, like a tractor-mounted snow blower.

“One farmer told me that’s how he unloads wet canola. He uses a big snow blower with an extension on the outlet to blow it into his truck.”

Adair said wet canola in a bag is no different than wet canola in a bin. It won’t unload if it won’t run. Using a grainvac is fine, he added, but it’s of no use if the canola won’t flow.

“I don’t recommend putting very wet grain into bags, but if you want to go three or four points over dry, it’s worth a try. Seventeen or 18 percent is practical. Higher than that and the main problem will be unloading.”

He said the best way to monitor bags during the winter is to tape the bag surface first, and then put the probe through to prevent tearing.

It’s not known how long canola or cereals can safely be stored in a bag.

“There hasn’t been any research in North America. There are temperature, moisture and UV factors, but nobody’s bothered to study them. So there’s a lot of guessing going on,” said Adair.

“My best references are the farmers with experience. When guys are bagging for the first time and they call me with questions about how long, my preference is to have them talk to another farmer with experience. We have no studies or data to make recommendations.”

Not every farmer brags about his bagging experience. There have been numerous stories over the years of different types of bag failure. Adair said it can’t always be blamed solely on the bag manufacturer.

One of the most common complaints is the bag ripping end to end. Adair said that in nearly every case he has investigated, a burr on the tunnel of the bagger created a score on the surface from one end to the other.

The location of the burr matches the location of the inevitable tear in the bag.

Producers can file down the burr and eliminate the problem for next year. Checking the metal surfaces should be part of the annual maintenance of every loader.

Ultraviolet rating is another consideration.

“There are different levels of UV protection,” Adair said.

“If you think the bag might sit in the field for a while longer, check with the supplier to make sure you have the highest UV rating.”

Producers must also pay attention to the intended use of the bags.

“The seven mil are strictly for silage, not grain. For grain you need the thicker bags, up around 9.5 mil.”

As for the machinery, Adair said the half dozen companies selling in Western Canada all have decent equipment that does a good job of bagging.

“There’s no bad equipment on the market, in my opinion, but there are varying degrees of reliability and longevity.”

For more information, contact George Adair at 306-773-0996 or visit www.adairreps.com.

About the author

Ron Lyseng

Ron Lyseng

Western Producer

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