Grain Baggers-Wisdom Required

[jjfarmer]

Is bagging a valid management tool as a stop gap measurement in the event of a tough fall? I would have to think, if we did not have to worry about moving high volumes of grain from field to bin during the combining process it would take some stress and risk away. There is a 12' dia. bag 43,000 bu. 500' long.

[TOM4CWB]

jjfarmer,

At Farmtech the Argentinian farmer was talking about this method of grain storage... it is used there to a large extent.

Would work in a pinch... especially for a short term solution. How to keep wildlife out of the bags... may be a problem if it was used on the longer term.

Would tough grain stay in condition in a plastic bag?

If the 02 could be removed.... it would be better than a grain bin!

[cottonpicken]

The 02 is removed,the grain eats it.
Silage is stored this way.

At harvest its the most beautiful thing in the world,its like having an extra man.

Unloading can suck.

That bag your talking about would probably weighs a thousand pounds and would be difficult to deal with.

They say you can store hot canola,but not sure i would try.

The most important thing is to drive as straight as possible when loading.

Animals can be a problem.

The exstractors are poorly made pieces of equipment(green and read).

I phoned the vac manufactures a while ago and told them to hurry up and build something and they all said "hmmm,would something like that sell" and only one of them now has something near the prototype stage.

[Steve_Winkler]

Neighbor has one and swears by it. Almost eliminates trucking at harvest time. Need a grain cart of course. I think he uses 12,000 bu. bags for easier handling. Can load a super-b with wheat in under 20 minutes. Not recommended for canola from what I understand, and maltsters have also advised against using them... not sure why.

[mcfarms]

Steve


WINNIPEG Dec 2007- A recent release by CMBTC cautioned producers about the use of large polypropylene storage bags for malting barley storage. There would appear to be a large amount of conflicting information about quality deterioration of malting barley stored in these bags. For that reason CMBTC will immediately commence a project examining over time, malting barley quality at a number of sites where malting barley is stored in these storage bags. The results will be released onto the CMBTC website at the completion of the study before harvest 2008.

[SASKFARMER3]

We used it last year and last bag emptied end of April.
With very little problems
Ravens are one, every week walk the bag. and tape or kill birds.

If grain goes in at 16.5 comes out 16.4 its sealed air tight, air causes problems for grain.

Deer are a problem but move bags far away first.

Extracting is a bit of a problem, vac doesn't really work takes 1 hour to fill semi.
Extractors out their best fills in 10 minuets.

Bags that hold 43000 bushels to big a problem, best works at 12000 and make one site. Winds in fall out of NW so have your opening facing East.
Leave room between for snow removal and plan a site ahead of time. Roll ground.

[SASKFARMER3]

Oh yea Germination was excellent and Barley all went malt. We had three bags.

[SASKFARMER3]

Also to keep bag strait hit your dif lock and it stays on track.
Its an extra man in harvest all ours come home but unloading is faster than a 13 inch auger becasue all you have to do is drive by, no backing up etc.

[jjfarmer]

Saskfarmer, Why do you think large bags to be a problem? I am thinking changing bags at night or when combines are rolling with the small bags could be clumsy, also to cut bag to fit location could be option. It may be a problem hauling out that quantity of grain at once and I assume one would want to finish unlaoding once process is started.

[parsley]

Experiences in working with food....


Some plastics release odours that the food, in this case grain, absorbs. If you are making beer, the grain cannot smell from mould, plastic, etc, because it is reflected in the quality ..both nutritional and aesthetic ...of the final product.

Ask your wife, what a partially used two year old plastic container of canola oil, for example, shuffled into the back of the cupboard, smells like. Tastes like.

Beermakers are very particular.

Increasingly, processing plants want to know how FOOD source is handled before they buy from you. (You've noticed how water hauling tanks are advertised as "food safe'.)

And farmers need to be aware of what they store food in. It may make the difference between a sale and a non-sale.

IMHO
Parsley

[SASKFARMER3]

Yes and wine now is sold in a plastic carton in Liquore stores, and its not the cheap stuff.
Simply its in better condition in a bag than your bins.
Simple isnt it.
Problem with big bag would be getting on machine it would be heavy even if you have the cradle to lift it. Yes cutting for each fields would save time.

[BigY]

Barley sweats, as soon as you cut off the 02, the germ goes to south. Can you store malt barley in bags, yes, but don't plan on leaving it there very long, use it as a harvest management tool to get the barley off, then transfer in aeration. Outside Temps will determine how long barley can stay in the bag, High temp=higher respiration=increase O2 consuption=higher chance of bad germination. Cooler temps=slower respiration=less o2 needed = more time barley can stay in the bag and not loose quality.

[SASKFARMER3]

Emptied our bags in late April went malt and I sold rest for seed Germinated just wonderful.
But its air tight so its sealed. Can you breath with a bag over your head no. And the grain cools down so no sweating. Its something new in Canada that's been used other places for years.

[gregpet]

Heard at a meeting that malsters will not accept barley that has been stored in bags and Quaker Oats will not accept oats that has been stored in bags since it turns the groat black. Maybe from lack of O2?

[SASKFARMER3]

OK all the rumors are true.
Come on guys I heard this i heard that.
What should we all do Pile on Ground like They do with our oats.