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Workshop to Provide Info on Successful On-Farm Grain Storage

From the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service

High prices have lured farmers across Alabama into growing wheat this year – with acreage reaching a 27-year high. With the increased acreage comes a greater interest in storing grain on-farm to save time during harvest and to lock in the best sales price. Professionals with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System agree that this could be a profitable strategy if farmers take steps to maintain grain quality and handle grain safely.

Dr. Kathy Flanders, an Extension entomologist, says not paying attention to these basics could exact a heavy toll, both in terms of farmers’ financial bottom lines and even their personal safety.

"Some have never stored grain before, and for others it's been along time," says Flanders, who says that growers may not be aware of or may have forgotten the potentially destructive power of insects.

To help ensure farmers are familiar with the best practices for storing grain, the Extension System and the Alabama Wheat and Feed Grain Check-Off Committee are conducting a stored grain workshop on Tuesday, July 22 at the Tennessee Valley Research and Extension Center in Belle Mina, and Henderson Farms in Mooresville.

Click here for more information on the workshop. Interested producers can also contact Eric Schavey, a regional Extension agronomy agent, at (256) 230-5727 or (256) 353-8702 or at ets0003@aces.edu.

Doug Trantham, a Calhoun County farmer, says preparing the grain bin before filling and proper storage are crucial.

“You can put in $8 or $9 dollar a bushel wheat in June and if you have not done things correctly, you will be pulling out $2 a bushel feed wheat by the end of the summer,” says Trantham.

Brian Glenn, chair of the Alabama Farmers’ Federation Wheat and Stored Grain Commodity Group, agrees with Trantham.

“I used to say a full grain bin was like money in the bank. But it’s not. Money doesn’t deteriorate in a bank, but grain will.”

Flanders says the hot, humid summers of the Deep South are particularly challenging to storing grain.

“Southern grain bins are especially prone to insect infiltration and molds — the reason why farmers should make every effort to stop them dead in their tracks.” she says.

“The July 22 workshop will include information on all the tools available to make sure that the grain is the same quality coming out of the bin as when it goes in,” Flanders says.