Rusty Grain Beetles

[biglentil]

Important to remove +30 grain temp at harvest, cool at night if air bin.

We dry into unaired bin, or fill at night. Cool aerated down near zero. Move and freeze now.

Important to remove a load from full bins in winter, cools faster.

That's a plus for bags, they are -20C all the way through by now!

Only once in last 30 years, a full unaired bin in June had a crust/bugs at the top.

Treated as moved, all of it with Protect- It in July.

Bugs dead in about a month in summer, 90% graded a #1, rest was a bit heated.

Just extra work.

Bought 'protect it' one year found out it's just diatomaceous earth you can buy in 50lb boxs at Cowtown for 1/10th the cost.

[biglentil]

Use the Protect It brand of diatomaceous earth. Feed grade stuff does work but the Protect It is ground finer so a little is a lot more effective. If I have a buggy bin I like to put DE in the top of the bin as you’re filling a truck. Then put the load back in while adding DE at the auger. Leave it a couple weeks and vac it out if you have one. I usually add a cup for every tandem load at harvest and that’s the cheaper feed grade stuff. Last bug problem was a bin I didn’t add any DE. It is well worth the hassle at harvest.

The diatomaceous earth at Cowtown in 50lb box's is like $40. It is about the finest powder if ever seen like talcum powder. Protect It is way over priced for same thing.

[biglentil]

Sometimes in a pinch to fill a contract Phostoxin or Vac are the only two reliable solutions. I've heard with the Vac put lots of bends and turns in the suction hose to kill em, but the time I used it, I couldn't even find a single dead body of a beatle. I think they go right up the exhaust of the vac, dead maybe, who knows.

[Old Cowzilla]

Dump grain on frozen snowy ground beside corn silage pit and mix and save your elevator guy the headache .

[countryguy]

Turn it on the coldest day you can, add in Protect It while you do. About the only way. It has to be so ridiculously cold to kill them, or medium cold for so long, it can be hard. Turn it into an air bin and continue to blast them, even better.

Vacuum can work but depending on how many you have, it's not a guarantee. They can be missing parts and still be alive. Numerous are the times a farmer gets told he has live bugs and his reply is "But I vacc'd it" I've seen grain vacuumed three times before there's no live ones found (extremely polluted bin mind you).

Nobody seems to use Phos anymore. Assume it's because they don't want to bother paying someone when they can't do it themselves now. If you have a break in the weather, there's supposed to be a warm up here next week, then that probably gives you the best guaranteed outcome with the least amount of dicking around.

They're definitely starting to make their presence known. Don't think I go a week without finding some.

Need to vac very slowly and have lots of bends in the steel pipes to be effective