Treat for grain insects
Farmers who want to deliver 1993-94 grain before the end of the crop year should inspect it soon to allow for fumigation time.
To determine whether bugs are a problem in your grain, provincial entomologist Lloyd Harris recommends taking a coffee can-sized sample from the central top portion of the bin. Then pour the sample over a screen placed on white paper.
“The small, reddish-brown insects will easily fall through the screen and show up clearly on the white paper,” he said.
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The most common beetles are the red flour beetle and the rusty grain beetle. The red flour beetle is about 3.5 mm in length and has clubbed antennae. The rusty grain beetle is about 2 mm in length and has long thread-like antennae. The presence of these insects may indicate the grain is going out of condition. It should be dried to less than 14.5 percent moisture before it is fumigated.
Harris said the best way to fumigate the grain is to move it from one bin to another, adding fumigant pellets or tablets during the process. The structure receiving the grain should be as airtight as possible. Seal any cracks and the area around the door and air vents before transferring the grain.
Fumigation dosages are related to the volume of the bin, regardless of the amount of grain in the bin. Application rates are four tablets or eight pellets per cubic metre of grain. (One cubic metre of grain equals 28 bushels.)
Time required for fumigation depends on grain temperature. If it is 15¡C or higher, fumigation should take place for four days. If the grain temperature is between 11¡ and 14¡C, seven days are needed. If the grain temperature is between 4¡ and 10¡C , fumigation is only recommended if the structure is airtight.
Following fumigation, the doors and other sealed spaces must be opened for at least 48 hours before delivery of grain to the elevator.
– Saskatchewan Agriculture
Better manure lagoon agitator
The Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute in Humboldt is working on developing a better agitator for pumping out hog manure lagoons.
Work is being done to develop an agitator that is portable, produces little or no odor during pump-out, needs up to 60 percent less power, has controlled agitation, does not damage a lagoon’s clay liner and develops a consistent slurry.
Brendan Reding at PAMI has modelled his agitator on the pumping system of a dredge, which is typically used for channelling and removing sediment build-up in lakes and ponds and for cleaning out oil sumps.
“The biggest problem with these dredges is that they’re not very portable,” says Reding. “The machine we developed is portable and adapted for the hog-producer environment.”
Reding said the machine has the potential to reduce the odor which is the inevitable byproduct of pumping, while also reducing erosion of the lagoon lining. That will help eliminate the risk of contaminating groundwater.
“Since we are not agitating or moving the entire volume of liquids in the lagoon, we are also confident that we can cut back on the power requirements,” Reding added.
On a provincial scale, Reding calculates the savings in power alone could be $1.6 million.
The agitator is being tested this summer at several lagoon sites.
– Saskatchewan Agriculture
