As seen at Ag in Motion: Tools are available to monitor and manage moisture and temperature of stored grain, particularly helpful when weather at harvest can throw farmers a curveball.
Tag Archives moisture levels
How to manage wet grains for storage
Prairie weather has a way of upsetting farmers’ harvest plans
Being proactive in storage, handling key to grain safety
Farm Safety: Canola is particularly susceptible to spoilage in storage
A key reason people become trapped in grain is because the stored product has gone out-of-condition. Put the other way, if the grain is in good condition, the less likely you are to have to enter the bin in the first place.
Critical factors in growing malting barley
While malting grade offers premiums, farmers must meet stringent quality standards to avoid being left with feed
As malting barley yields approach those of top feed varieties, farmers are increasingly choosing to grow malting barley in hopes of securing a premium price — even if their end goal is feed. The problem is, those premiums don’t come easily. Shawn Pasieczka, a food safety grain specialist with Richardson, is the arbiter of what […] Read more
Moving from dry to wet
Improved moisture conditions can mean different strategies
Farmers in Western Canada can breathe easy. Rains across most of the Prairies this spring have gone a long way toward recharging groundwater levels and lowering the risk of drought across the region. “We had an extremely warm winter with lower-than-normal precipitation in most areas,” says Trevor Hadwen, agroclimate specialist for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. […] Read more
Avoid grain spoilage when temperatures get wild
Consider your bins when the weather swings from extreme cold to unseasonably warm
Glacier FarmMedia — With unusually high temperatures interrupted by two deep freezes, it’s been a challenging winter for grain storage on the Prairies, requiring diligence to protect stored crop. Anne Kirk, cereal crop specialist with Manitoba Agriculture, advises aeration and vigilant monitoring of bin moisture and temperature. The latter is particularly important when outside temperatures […] Read more
Curb risk from moisture stress for less
A Manitoba agronomist offers up some tips for farmers on a budget
With swings between wet and dry extremes in recent years, Prairie farmers have seen more water stress problems in their fields. Not only do they make crops less productive, but they can also crank up the stress levels for farmers. “Historically, our two main risks in crop production long term have been excess moisture and […] Read more
A new year, a new soil moisture map
Let's take a Prairie-wide view of soil moisture at freeze-up in 2023
To make a soil moisture map, you need to understand the soil moisture constants: saturation, field capacity, wilting point and plant-available water. Saturation (Sat) is when all soil pores are filled with water — in other words, the water table. Until recently we did not consider the water table to be high enough to provide […] Read more
How to condition canola with natural air drying and supplemental heat
Seven tips from Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute
Due to its high oil content, canola has a higher risk of spoilage compared with numerous other crops. If it’s too wet or too warm inside the bin, moulds, mites and insects will thrive, leading to spoilage and lost revenue for farmers. Charley Sprenger, a research project lead at Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) in […] Read more
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