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Robin Benbow, Welshpool
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Low cost grain venting method cuts the risk of down grading
Lower grain yields and higher prices have made this harvest one which needs to be cared for
Andersons forecast a gross margin on £424/ha on the 600ha loam farm they use as an example. This is an 8% improvement over 2006. It means that the margin from production has gone from a loss of £90 to a loss of just £68/ha. It's a big improvement, but these margins depend on the crop getting the right price, and not being downgraded. This year it is vital that grain samples are up to scratch. Downgrades will bite heavily into grain margins.
Heating grain is a permanent worry in the weeks after harvest. Doing nothing isn't an option, yet frequently the remedial action is time consuming and quite costly. There can be hundreds of tons to move, much of which may be fine in store.
The heating grain needs air passing through it reduce temperature and take out moisture. Stores with ventilated floors provide a ready option to keep blowing, but when the corn is stored on bare concrete, that's not available.
Causes of hot spots
Hot spots in grain can happen from all sorts of reasons. May be the combine was still working when it should have been parked up. Possibly the sample from a few acres was untypically high in moisture, perhaps because the field faced away from the sun, was shadowed by trees.But hot spots in store are not always a combining problem. The fault can just as easily happen in the barn. Grain was being pushed through the drier too fast and not enough moisture was removed. Grain stores that are dried on floor through ducts have problems when laterals get partially blocked, or the grain is loaded unevenly. Some systems have no air controls at the laterals, making it impossible to reduce air flow into parts of the store and thus increase that into others. Even when this can be done, grain in store can pack into an impervious lump so any air is diverted around it, and fails to go through and so cure the problem.
If the problems aren't solved, the chances of the grain being downgraded are naturally high. Farmers who know how to solve the problem are clearly in a far better position to reduce the risk of financial loss.
Here we describe a method used by an inventive Shropshire farmer. He's used it for a good many years with real success.
It's main attraction is that it works. He's used it to treat small hot patches and larger areas. The second bonus is that it's easy to install and set up, and needs no expensive equipment. It's also quick, an hour or so being enough to sort out many localised problem areas. The third advantage is that it really is inexpensive.
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Cheap, easily sourced materials
So how's it done? It relies on perforated vertical tubes inserted into the grain stack, identical to pedestal driers. But while the pedestals have to be located on the floor of the grain store before filling, these tubes are inserted afterwards.Getting the pipe into the grain involves using a drum type vacuum cleaner with a long tube, a length of soil pipe, a roll of perforated drainage pipe and some silage wrap. The Mk1 system is described in Farm Ideas Vol 12-2. The vacuum sucks the grain out from the base of the poly pipe, and in doing so allows it to drop down through the heap. When it has reached the bottom the depth of grain is measured and a length of drain pipe cut off which is 18ins longer. Silage wrap film is put around the top 1/3 of the pipe, and this is then inserted into the drain pipe till it reaches the floor. The drain pipe is then pulled out - using a neat device which is shown in the magazine. You'll find the pedestal type electric fans fit on the top of the pipe. More pipes can be installed than you have fans, which you can then change around every 6 hours or so. Un-fanned pipes still help remove heat from the grain, as the air travels up the pipe.
 The kit needed: pipe, fan and vacuum  The installed pipe and fan which will cool and help reduce moisture levels in the grain | |
 The home made perforations in the tube | |
Sucking the from the base of the pipe needs a long vacuum tube
The silage wrap ensures that air is drawn in through the base of the grain, and not just the top layers.
The Mk2 was devised because the top of the flexible drainage pipe didn't provide a particularly stable support for the fan. The pipes can droop and the fan fall off. So this second system uses poly drains which have slots cut in them. making them with an angle grinder and a thin cutting disk is quick and easy, and the slots are too narrow for grain to go through. The pipe costs are greater, but they are easier to salvage and use the next season.
A third idea would be to use the drain pipe but add a short length of poly pipe to the top on which to mount the fan. Doing it this way would mean there's no need to slot the poly pipe. The join between the two pipes would need to be sealed, otherwise the fan would draw air from the bottom of the short piece of poly.
Our pictures show the Mk2 version.
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An essential Farm Ideas feature
This grain venting story is typical of the articles we publish in Practical Farm Ideas.
1. The idea is low cost
2. It benefits the farmer, not manufacturer or distributor
3. There's an ingenious use of easily sourced materials and tools
4. It's been developed and used successfully by a working farmer
5. Has a wide application in terms of farm size, farming system
Notes
Practical Farm Ideas has been published quarterly since 1992. In that time more than 3,000 innovations have been featured. The magazine is generally bought on subscription, though it is now being stocked by a small number of rural newsagent. Carrying no advertising, the all-editorial magazine is funded entirely by readers.
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