Producers encouraged to monitor stored grain

Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food

The crop is in the bin, but the question that some Saskatchewan producers are dealing with is: What else is in there?

Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food Crop Specialist Dale Risula says a number of conditions have combined to make stored grain monitoring more important than usual this year. Risula notes there have been reports of beetle infestations in stored grain from all over the province.

“The key is for farmers to harvest the grain dry, and to aerate it and try to get it below 15 degrees Celsius as quickly as possible, because, at that temperature, the grain beetles become inactive,” said Risula. “To ensure that they lessen the likelihood of infestation, they should clean bins thoroughly, avoid putting new grain on top of old grain, and make sure the area surrounding the storage bin is clean and free of any spilled grain on the ground.”

Beetles can also survive a winter under the bark of trees near a grain storage area, so spraying the trees with insecticide is another preventative option.

But the first line of defence is close monitoring, and Risula says temperature is a good indicator.

“Monitoring your grain is critical. Check it fairly frequently for any build up of heat. Temperature is really the key to know if anything is happening in the bin,” said Risula.

The most uncontrollable factor of farming – weather – was a big contributor to the increased prevalence of grain beetles this year.

“The major reason for it has been the fact that last fall and the fall before saw the harvest take place under fairly adverse condition – that being the excessive frost or rain – which resulted in a lot of grain being harvested under inappropriate moisture and temperature conditions,” said Risula.

“When it is harvested in that fashion and then not stored properly, it is subject to infestation of bugs and various grain beetles that feed on broken or whole kernels. The moisture and the heat migrate in a storage bin and accumulate in areas. Before you know it, you can have a situation where the grain begins to spoil fairly rapidly, and this is an ideal breeding ground for bugs,” said Risula.

This year’s harvest conditions are another factor.

“This summer, a lot of grains were harvested under hot temperatures and stored at too warm a temperature. The moisture content was okay, but the temperature was a factor, and that’s why the beetle activity was so high. Because there were so many bugs around (due to the conditions in previous years), a lot of grain was infested this fall,” said Risula.

With the market having no tolerance for grain beetles, producers have to deal with the issue. But Risula said the options become a bit more challenging when the beetles are already in the bin.

“There are only a few choices for farmers. They can treat chemically or culturally. All of the methods are slow, and all of them are incomplete in terms of their efficiency, except for one – the use of phostoxin. It is a fumigant that basically kills all of the bugs within the grain. However, the problem is that phostoxin requires a license to apply the product,” explained Risula.

Cultural controls include moving the grain with grain vacuums, cooling the grain below minus 20 degrees Celsius or heating it above 50 degrees Celsius. That requires a lot of time and effort on the farmer’s part, and is not always 100 per cent effective.

SAF has prepared a very thorough, useful guide to assist producers, entitled Detecting Insects in Stored Grain. It can be found in the “Crops” section of the SAF website at www.agr.gov.sk.ca, or obtained by calling the Agriculture Knowledge Centre at 1-866-457-2377.

For more information, contact:
Dale Risula, Integrated Cropping Management Systems Specialist
Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food
Phone: (306) 694-3714