In store grain, monitoring/prevention for bugs especially during damp winter.

[Pilatus]

How often do you monitor/check your in store grain etc during the winter to make sure the grain is not being infested with mites( using mite traps to see if there are any) bugs,rats and mice etc.
I ask as it is so easy to overlook the management of crops in store,leading to thousands of pounds worth of lost income due to deductions,return loads etc.
When I was farming we could dress grain as it went from the drier to the store with a small dressing of Actellic powder which I believe has been banned for several years.
Are their any types of insecticide that you can dress grain with as it goes in to store nowadays ?
I appreciate dressing grain with insecticide or whatever, is only a precaution ,and not an alternative to drying and keeping grain at moisture content and temperature that will prevent bugs/mites breeding.

 

[Flat 10]

We all check at least weekly for the ACCS man otherwise we would fail our inspection

 

[Barleymow]

Never had problems before we checked it we in the past ,I really look forward to my weekly clamber over the heap

 

[Rust]

Better to spend the time moving fans around than checking traps. As cool grain is the answer to no bugs.

 

[ollie989898]

Once grain is dry and cold you should have a lot less to worry about. A few thermometers placed into the heap and a sample spear all help keep an eye out for issues.

 

[Steevo]

I ask as it is so easy to overlook the management of crops in store,leading to thousands of pounds worth of lost income due to deductions,return loads etc.

This is a fair point - so many things on a farm that are continually demanding attention.

I did rig up a wireless thermometer system a few years back to help monitor 24/7 which is handy.

 

[7610 super q]

I just get rid of all mine by November at the latest. OK, I miss out on higher prices, but I don't spend so much time worrying about mice, roof blowing off, bugs, mites and such like.

 

[7610 super q]

Oh, and I waste a lot less paper jotting down grain temps / moisture / empty pit fall traps and all that guff. It's hard work dreaming up imaginary dates. One year I'll get caught out writing down 29th Feb in a non leap year.

 

[MrNoo]

I just get rid of all mine by November at the latest. OK, I miss out on higher prices, but I don't spend so much time worrying about mice, roof blowing off, bugs, mites and such like.

Snap, clear up loads in Nov but rather have it gone and money in the bank. Sure you may make a bit more holding it but at the risk of malting premiums going or milling premiums going as so oft happens when you keep it for some reason. Then you have the chance of bugs, so there's a load of money's worth gone putting it all through the cleaner etc etc. I guess it depends how many tons you produce and price fluctuations

 

[DrWazzock]

Marketing is something other industries do.
“Getting rid” is what farmers do.
I usually “get rid” by the end of November. Usually by then the 200 year old grain store is losing the battle and the lorry can still just about get out of the yard.

 

[Pilatus]

Better to spend the time moving fans around than checking traps. As cool grain is the answer to no bugs.

Yep,once you see bugs in traps it’s a bit late!!!!
If I did find any I used to sprinkle thin dressing of Actellic dust all over the grain in store and rake it in!!!! Many years before ACCS and many more regs.

 

[Bax]

They still use Actellic dust in some Southern Hemisphere countrys as a matter of course.

 

[MrNoo]

Yep,once you see bugs in traps it’s a bit late!!!!
If I did find any I used to sprinkle thin dressing of Actellic dust all over the grain in store and rake it in!!!! Many years before ACCS and many more regs.

Never ever had any bugs when we used Actellic dust, moisture was the only ever claim we'd get, used to have a automatic powder dispenser that would trickle a bit on as the grain came out the seed cleaner.

 

[DrWazzock]

Never ever had a bug problem. We have put traps and gone through the motions. Never used actellic either. Just try to get it all cleaned out of the main stores by Christmas. I hate bits and bobs left behind attracting and carrying over any pests. Sometimes if there is a few ton left we will load it into a trailer as seems less opportunity for bugs there and its out the way of rodents and damp.