Protecting Stored Grain: A Four-Part Approach to Grain Protection
For many farmers, getting grain into the bin is only the beginning. Once a crop is stored, protecting it from insects, quality loss and weight loss becomes another important part of the operation.
The Grain Protection Protocol is designed to simplify that process for growers by breaking grain protection into four basic steps: start clean, treat the bin, treat the grain and monitor the bin.
According to a representative with Central Life Sciences, the goal is to give growers a straightforward approach they can adapt to their own operations.
“Growers can get technical, but they like stuff that summarizes just like anybody,” the representative said. “Here’s what you do and here’s the benefit. And so that’s really at the root of what the green protection protocol is.”
Start with a Clean Bin
The first step begins before the grain ever enters storage.
Once a bin is emptied, growers should clean out as much dust, grain residue and other material as possible. Even small amounts of grain dust can provide an environment where insects survive and begin building a population.
“Bugs can survive in a minuscule amount of dust,” the representative said. “They can grow from a tiny small little area where then all of a sudden you’ve got a population within that grain mass once the bin is loaded.”
Cleaning the bin gives growers a better starting point before new grain is placed into storage.
Treat the Bin
The second step involves treating the floors and walls of the storage structure.
The Grain Protection Protocol recommends treating the floors, whether concrete or metal, as well as the bin walls within the area that can be reached during application.
Gravista is available in both liquid and dry formulations. The liquid formulation can be applied to the floors and walls to create a treatment zone before grain is loaded.
The application method can be adjusted depending on the resources available at the farm.
Treat the Grain
The third step is treating the grain as it enters the bin.
According to the representative, growers can use products including Diacon and Gravista, both of which are available in liquid and dry formulations.
Diacon is an insect growth regulator designed to disrupt the life cycle of insects that could otherwise develop in stored grain.
Gravista works against adult insects while also providing the insect growth regulator component.
“Those two products absolutely are the best way to ensure the protocol is maintained and that the grain is protected as it’s being stored,” the representative said.
The availability of liquid and dry formulations also gives growers flexibility in how products are applied. For farms where water may not be readily available near a bin, a dry formulation can provide another option.
Monitor the Bin
The fourth and final part of the protocol is monitoring.
Even after a bin has been cleaned and treated, growers should continue checking stored grain rather than assuming it will remain protected indefinitely.
“A lot of times growers will put stuff in the bin and then forget about it,” the representative said.
Monitoring gives farmers an opportunity to identify problems and make adjustments when necessary.
The need for continued monitoring can be easy to overlook because grain is stored inside metal or concrete structures where problems aren't immediately visible.
“If grain bins were made out of plexiglass, we couldn’t make enough of this stuff because, you know, it’s like an ant farm,” the representative said. “You can see the movement. You can see what’s being eaten.”
Grain Protection Can Protect More Than Quality
One of the challenges with insect damage is that the loss may not always be obvious when grain is delivered.
A grower may not receive a traditional dockage at the elevator even though insects have already consumed some of the grain's dry matter.
“What they’re missing in all this is they’ve already lost weight,” the representative said. “The dry matter loss that occurred with bugs eating their grain.”
That means the economic impact can occur before the grain ever reaches the delivery point.
The representative said grain protection is also connected to farmers’ ability to market crops on their own timelines. On-farm storage gives growers flexibility to hold grain and wait for a marketing opportunity rather than immediately selling it after harvest.
“Growers don’t build bins on their farms just to have storage,” the representative said. “They’re doing it to give them the ability to market on their own terms.”
Protecting that stored grain becomes important if farmers plan to hold it for a longer period.
A Flexible Approach for Different Operations
Another component of the Grain
Protection Protocol is its flexibility.
The products are available in different formulations, and the protocol can be adapted to different crops and individual farm operations.
A grower may choose to treat only the portion of a crop that will remain in storage longer, for example, while marketing another portion earlier in the season.
The protocol can also be used across crops including wheat, corn and rice, according to the representative.
Ultimately, the goal is to give growers a simple framework for protecting the investment they have already made in producing and storing a crop.
With continued market volatility, protecting stored grain from insect-related quality and weight losses can be another consideration for farmers as they decide when and how to market their crops.
“You’re not as protected as you think you are unless you’re actively not only trying to get out to treat your grain, but doing a grain protection protocol,” the representative said.
The four steps — start clean, treat the bin, treat the grain and monitor the bin — provide a simple framework growers can use when developing their own stored-grain protection strategy.
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