Common Mistakes To Avoid When Storing And Unloading Grain

It's easy to make mistakes when you're working with grain bags. Here are some mistakes that people often make with the bags for both storage and unloading, including what you can do to avoid these mistakes yourself to keep your business sailing along smoothly.

Keeping Bags Too Close to Trees and Fences

The problem with storing a bag anywhere near the border of your business property is that you're inviting pests to come in and pilfer from your bags. If you keep the bags away from these areas, it will be much harder for rodents and other creatures to detect and make it to your grain bags.

It's also important to make sure that you clean up any spills quickly since this will also be a beacon for hungry animals.

In fact, you'll want to have a clear perimeter from the fence line to bags. This way, animals will be much more timid about trying to move past the perimeter than if they could just hop over the fence directly to where they smell grain. With a perimeter, you may also confuse the scent of food with other scents such as your own.

Letting the Area Get Wet and Stay That Way

Ideally, you'll store bags on concrete slabs and cover them with plastic. It's important to make sure that water drains away from the bags. Otherwise, you'll end up with rot or even premature growth and other things coming to life that you really don't want such as mold. It's often important to make sure that the site stays this way all the way up until when you're ready to unload and ship.

Forgetting to Clear the Area Around Unloaders

It's actually important to plan for unloading when you first set up as a grower. You don't want the trucks to risk trampling anything when they come through, and you don't want your unloaders to fail to function because they don't have enough space.

Storing Wet Grain

You need to get the grain down to 15% moisture content or lower before putting it away for a full store. This also includes checking the stored grain in order to make sure that no new water makes its way in there during storage months. Otherwise, it won't be ready for unloaders when it's time.

Overall, grain storage and using unloaders becomes much easier when you focus on the maintenance side of things. You'll be glad you did when you avoid mistakes that cost you serious money. For more information, contact local professionals like Neeralta Manufacturing Inc.