Grain Quality Management FAQs
Questions
1. How much can grain temperature rise before I get concerned about spoilage?
2. Do I need to start cooling my grain immediately after harvest?
3. How cool should my grain storage temperature be?
4. Should I run my fans on a regular basis to keep grain "fresh"?
6. How often should I monitor my storage temperature?
7. Do I need to log data every time I read the cable?
8. Do I need to increase my stored grain temperature going into Spring?
Answers
1. How much can grain temperature rise before I get concerned about spoilage?
Temperature change over time is more relevant than the temperature at a given time, with the first indication of potential problems coming from an increase in temperature of about 10% over a 2-4 week time period. The StorMax monitor allows you to track temperature trends over time, so as to detect small changes before spoilage occurs. Being that grain is such a good insulator, a rise in temperature more than a couple of feet from the cable may not be detected before spoilage occurs. Log temperatures with your StorMax monitor on a regular basis for maximum grain quality.
2. Do I need to start cooling my grain immediately after harvest?
When harvested grain is put in the bin, it will often go through an initial "sweat". During this time, temperatures should be watched closely, and fans should be ran to exhaust away this heat build-up. Ultimately, you want to reduce grain temperatures as low as possible to 5°C over a couple of aeration cycles, with minimum/maximum spread no greater than 3°C.
3. How cool should my grain storage temperature be?
Grain temperature is directly related to moisture content - i.e. the lower the grain moisture, the higher the allowable storage temperature. Conversely, the higher the grain moisture, the lower the temperature must be for safe storage. Assuming you are working with dry grain of sound quality, it is not necessary to cool your grain below 10°C (with a +/- 3°C spread). Not only will you create a safe storage environment, but if grain is stored past winter, minimum temperature differentials will occur as the grain warms-up.
4. Should I run my fans on a regular basis to keep grain "fresh"?
No, aeration should only be used to achieve and maintain your temperature and/or moisture targets. Beyond this objective, you will only waste electricity, cause shrinkage, and pump Oxygen into the bin, which only serves to foster microbial growth.
5. How far away from the sensor will temperature be measured, and will the plastic cable tube affect the sensitivity of that measurement?
Since grain is an efficient insulator, temperature can only be detected within a couple of feet from the sensor. This is why it is so important that temperatures be logged on a regular basis - monitoring changes as small as a few degrees which in turn may suggest significant problems further away from the cable. It is equally important for you to use this information when pro-actively managing your grain to safe temperature levels. Despite being housed in a plastic tube, the sensor is very accurate (+/- 0.5°C) and will equilibrate to the temperature of the grain in immediate contact to the cable.
6. How often should I monitor my storage temperature?
After harvest, it is important to monitor your grain storage conditions on a weekly basis. Once you've removed all field heat, and cooled your grain to safer levels, it is recommended that you use your StorMax system every two weeks to ensure grain conditions and temperatures are stable. Once these stable conditions are reached, continue monitoring your bins every 2-4 weeks through to spring. If you are in-bin drying, have tough grain or suspect a spoilage problem, it is important to monitor on a more regular basis Use the graphing features of the monitor to track trends over time.
7. Do I need to log data every time I read the cable?
The StorMax monitor has enough capacity to store an entire season worth data for all your bins. Regular logging will help you to spot trends much more easily than looking at numbers.
8. Do I need to increase my stored grain temperature going into Spring?
The need to increase the temperature of your stored grain in the Spring is dependent upon a number of variables. If in the spring, your grain is dry and within the range of 5-10°C, no action is required.
When dealing with tough grain held over winter, the first task is to dry the grain down. If not dried, grain next to sun-heated bin walls will quickly move out of condition - commonly resulting in a "donut" of tough grain set-up along the outer wall of the bin. This not only affects grain quality, but creates an unsafe condition for bin entry. In all cases, stored grain should be monitored on a regular basis to make sure grain isn't moving out of condition.
If your grain has been cooled below freezing over winter, it will need to be warmed to the 5-10°C range. This will minimize differences between the cold core, relative to the warmer grain closer to the sun-heated bin walls, keeping in mind that monitoring only the core can leave you with a false sense of security in regards to what's happening further out towards near the wall of the bin.