Plenty of farmers have, over the years, turned to alternative options when it comes to grain storage. They no longer just leave bags in stacks in the barns, but look at more secure ways to keep their grain bags away from the elements and from being broken into by wildlife.
Your farm – no matter the size of it – needs to be protected as much as possible and ensuring that you invest in adequate grain bag storage is a must. The butler building parts that you buy to reinforce the buildings that you have will really make a big difference to the grains that you have this year. With winter coming, you need to ensure that you maximize your storage as much as possible. It should be a priority of yours to ensure that grain bags are in the best possible condition so that you don’t have any waste this season. Let’s look at six tips to help you to do that below.
- Always check the state of the bags. Holes and tears in the grain bags will lead to leakage and that will mean that your investment is literally pouring out! You need to fix smaller holes and tears and if they cannot be fixed, the grain should be moved to newer bags. Tape works well but on a larger scale, new bags are a must. Most grain bags come with equipment to repair them but make sure that you have backups.
- Don’t panic if you notice insects at the opening of the bag. Insects cannot actually get inside grain bags and those that do won’t survive. There is no oxygen in a grain bag and so you don’t need to worry too much. Insects won’t cause much damage at the opening of the bag so don’t worry about those too much.
- You need to set rodent traps. Insects may not be a problem, but rats could be! Rodents are much trickier and that’s because they come up from the ground. One of the best tips that you could use here is spreading dry urea before you place the bag down because that will reduce the risk of rats coming back up for the bags. Make a point of looking for this early so that you can set it before your grain bags are delivered.
- Keep the grain bags away from bigger animals. Ideally, you need to keep your feed storage away from other wildlife by at least 500 feet. You don’t want any larger animals rummaging while you’re trying to keep everything in one place. You need the wildlife to stay away so that you don’t lose your spoils!
- Keep the bags dry. While you’re ensuring the winter storage is stocked up, you need those bags to stay dry. Moisture can determine the shelf life of the grain and moisture levels that sit at below 17% will be the best type. If it all gets too wet, you will find that the grain isn’t usable and that can deplete your stores.