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Farm growth pushes farmers to bring grain handling and conditioning home

Reading Time: < 1 minute As farms have increased in size, their storage requirements now mean far greater quantities of a single crop, whether it be canola or wheat. This means higher capacity, flat-bottomed bins. These are often centrally located, with larger capacity handling equipment and sometimes permanently installed handling equipment.

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U.S. farmers face harsh economics with record corn supplies in silos

Growers miscalculated when they held on to corn rather than booking sales, experts say

Reading Time: 5 minutes Farmers across the United States are kicking themselves for putting off corn sales after fields dried up in May and June, fueling expectations for higher prices and smaller harvests. Instead, prices tanked as rains saved the crop. The size and speed of the price collapse stung farmers and left their storage bins stuffed with record amounts of corn.


Ukrainian farmers who owned their own equipment were not at risk of missing crucial field work windows.  Photo: Ihor Pavliuk

War teaches Ukrainian farmers tough lessons 

As the war approaches its second anniversary, the farmers who adapted earliest have been in the best position to survive  

Reading Time: 5 minutes Feb. 24 marks two years since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It seems like a short time, but it has caused huge upheaval in our society. Hundreds of thousands have died and millions have lost their homes.

A seaport grain terminal damaged during Russian missile and drone strikes in Odesa region, Ukraine on July 19, 2023. (Photo: Ukrainian Infrastructure Ministry via Facebook/Handout via Reuters)

Russia destroyed 300,000 tonnes of grain since July in attacks, Kyiv says

Port damage cuts export potential 40 per cent, deputy PM says

Reading Time: < 1 minute Kyiv | Reuters — Russia has destroyed almost 300,000 metric tonnes of grain since July in attacks on Ukraine’s port facilities and on ships, the Ukrainian government said on Friday, underscoring the war’s threat to global food security. In summer, Moscow quit a U.N.-brokered deal that had allowed exports of Ukrainian grain through the Black […] Read more


File photo of grain silos and other buildings at harbourside at Saint Nazaire on France’s west coast. (Sissoupitch/iStock/Getty Images)

French agency drops fumigant ban on non-EU grain exports

Limit on phosphine won't apply if use required for export

Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — French health safety agency ANSES on Thursday cleared the use of phosphine pesticide in contact with grains exported outside the European Union when importing countries require the process, averting a halt to shipments from the EU’s top grain exporter. In late October ANSES cleared the use of phosphine tablets used for […] Read more

File photo of grain silos and other buildings at harbourside at Saint Nazaire on France’s west coast. (Sissoupitch/iStock/Getty Images)

France says pesticide ban will not hit grain exports

Fumigant can't be in 'direct contact' with grains

Reading Time: 2 minutes Paris | Reuters — France will ensure that a decision by health and safety agency ANSES to ban the use of a pesticide in direct contact with grains does not hamper its exports outside the European Union, its trade and agriculture ministers told Parliament on Tuesday. In late October ANSES cleared the use of phosphine […] Read more


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‘Keep it Clean’ program aims for more than just good advice

Program seen as 'one stop shop' for ensuring marketability of grains

Reading Time: 3 minutes As farmers plan for the upcoming season, they need to do their part to make certain their grain will be ready for market, come harvest time. “Market access issues in general are becoming a bigger issue globally,” said Ian Epp, an agronomy specialist and lead on market access and pesticides with the Canola Council of […] Read more

Dr. Digvir Jayas. (University of Manitoba photo)

Acclaimed Manitoba stored grain researcher now Alberta bound

Digvir Jayas named president at University of Lethbridge

Reading Time: 2 minutes A leading Canadian researcher and expert in safe storage of grain is headed westbound and up to the head office at another Prairie university. Dr. Digvir Jayas, currently on sabbatical as professor and vice-president (research and international) at the University of Manitoba, will become president and vice-chancellor at the University of Lethbridge effective July 1 […] Read more


File photo of barley being unloaded at a grain terminal in Ukraine on June 23, 2022. (Photo: Reuters/Igor Tkachenko)

Ukrainian farmers turn to U.N.-supplied grain sleeves for storage

'Last year's harvest still hasn't been sold'

Reading Time: 2 minutes Kyiv | Reuters — On a crisp and sunny November morning, Ukrainian farmers lined up to collect U.N.-supplied grain sleeves to store crops over winter as the country faces a significant shortage of storing capacity caused by Russian shelling. Ukraine has said it may lack up to 15 million tonnes of regular grain storage capacity […] Read more

Rick Baldwin of 4 Pecks Grain Storage and Handling says coring a bin can help prevent plugging of the centre sump. Should it happen, one way of getting it moving is to cut a hole in the door and try to get a tube in as far as you can and then insert a grain vac hose.

Tackling a core problem of grain storage

One retailer says the practice could be helpful for preventing plugs when unloading

Reading Time: 4 minutes Coring grain bins, a common practice in the U.S. corn and soybean area, is also being tried by some Canadian growers as part of their grain storage strategy. Coring involves removing grain from the centre of the bin after the initial fill, which removes the fines that accumulate within the centre during loading. Some say […] Read more