Good Grain Hygiene Might Prevent Your Drought Impact
With a large section of Australia in the grip of one of the worst droughts we have seen in decades, grain hygiene is probably the last thing on everyone’s mind. With little hope of many having a harvest this season, many may feel that there is no point in doing their regular preharvest silo maintenance. But that may be further from the truth than you realise. Now is an optimum time – with many silos low or empty from constant feeding, it’s time to take advantage of this situation, and do your maintenance checks.
The optimum time to clean and check was post-harvest. The next best time is now!
Fortnightly monitoring of all stored grain during the summer months, and monthly over winter using insect traps or sieves is best practice. Pests found early give you a greater chance of eradication before they become a much larger problem.
Prevention is always better than cure and any grain held over form the previous seasons provides an excellent breeding site. There are several readily available fact sheets, and the GRDC and Stored Grain websites will supply you with almost all you need to know.
But your key points are;
- Hygiene– remove all waste grain from your storage and equipment, and be meticulous about it. There only needs to be a small amount of grain to ensure pests survival.
- Clean it- and keep it clean. Hygiene is the number one control method and what’s more, it’s totally affordable. It only takes time and effort.
- Treatments– Utilising Diatomaceous Earth and phosphine to protect against pests.
Remember, to always check on your delivery requirements before utilising such treatments.
While we will not be seeing the harvest this year that we normally would, be assured- it will rain again, and there will be used for your silos going forward, and utilising this time to ensure that they are ready to go during next harvest will be of benefit.
We are mindful that these are incredibly difficult times for many of our customers, and we at HE Silos are available to answers any questions you may have, big or small.
You can also visit the Stored Grain Website for a lot of useful information.
Remember, check on your neighbors and mates and take care of yourself.