Blog

Sep 11, 2020

Beat the Weather with Grain Bagging

The benefits of grain bagging are far and wide, chief among them being the ability to use the weather to your advantage. Since the weather can always turn and change on a dime, it’s important to work around it whenever possible, which is where grain bagging comes in. The airtight, controlled environment inside of a grain bag allows you to store grain and plentiful harvest in a dry space, even when the weather outside is less than ideal. By extending the storage life of your grain, allowing you to store more at once and giving you more flexibility in the way you do so, grain bagging gives people the option to have more options.

Pro Grain Equipment is most passionate about keeping operations running in all weather and situations, saving customers time and money. By grain bagging, you can get your crops off of the field by planning around severe weather to improve efficiency on all sides. The Pro Grain lineup of baggers and extractors work so you can work less, with impressive specs, heavy-duty designs, and improved ease and efficiency for your harvest.

Tip 1: Don’t push the limits of your grain.

Grain bagging allows for safer storage of grain, even during periods of severe weather and freezing temperatures. However, patience is key here. When loading the bags, the weather outside needs to be cool, and the bags should be sealed immediately to ensure that your grain isn’t sitting at a higher temperature than the outside environment. For grain with higher moisture levels, it needs to be dried as soon as possible after the winter season is over. Grain with a lower moisture content can stay in the bags a little bit longer. However, regular temperature monitoring is paramount to making sure that your grain stays in good condition.

Tip 2: Be smart about storage.

Severe weather comes with the territory when farming, and simply when doing anything related to the outside weather. Choosing a storage space that makes sense for your grain is of the utmost importance. When storing grain, look for a place that is highly elevated and away from any sort of drainage that could seep into your bags. You won’t want to store your grain in any manner that could allow natural drainage to affect it, especially during severe storms or periods of melting ice. Before choosing the storage spot for your grain, it should be examined closely to ensure a lack of flooding before severe storms and bad weather. Even though grain bags provide a dry environment for your grain, they can be more susceptible to bad weather — especially if you’re not strategic about placement. You may also want to look into the possibility of grain armor for your grain storage, which gives an extra layer of protection against both weather and wildlife.

Tip 3: Keep a watchful eye on the grain in severe weather.

Grain should be checked periodically, at least once a week, for punctures from severe weather or issues that can arise because of the outside environment. From cosmetic damage that could severely affect the quality of the grain inside to keeping a watchful eye on the temperature of the grain, it’s important to use the weather outside as a gauge for what’s inside your grain bags. By placing the bags in a north to south manner when storing them, the sun will heat the bags evenly for a more consistent environment inside the bags, regardless of the weather.

Tip 4: Be strategic about your timing for a better crop.

One of the biggest benefits of grain bagging is the added ability to increase efficiency by bagging grain right in the field. When you’re expecting severe weather around harvest, grain bagging allows you to control when the crop is loaded into the bags and the condition of the grain. Since grain bagging is a quicker alternative to more traditional means, it allows you to get to your crop before the weather does. Once the grain is in the bag, it’s essentially going to stay the same moisture as when you put it in. By being careful and strategic about your timing, you’ll be able to better store your crop and do so around bad weather.


A Pro Grain bagger in action during Harvest 2019

To learn more about grain bagging and to see which grain bagging products could improve your harvest capabilities, get in touch with us. We would be happy to walk you through everything you require for your grain bagging needs and answer any questions you might have.

-----

Now offering discounted pallet pricing when you buy four or more pallets of grain bags. For more information, talk to one of our agriculture specialists at your nearest Flaman location. 

-----
Click here to view the original blog post by our friends at Pro Grain Equipment.