“Farmers can’t get complacent about monitoring their stored canola, particularly as the warmer weather comes in. Towards the end of winter, I know a lot of farmers are thinking about seeding and getting ready for the season ahead. But it’s important to still keep stored canola top of mind,” says Miller Friesen, noting that cold snaps during the winter are an ideal time to run fans and move cool air around proactively.
“Considering how quickly a bin can spoil, a lot of farmers check their storage weekly or biweekly to stay ahead of things.”
On Harpe’s farm, monitoring stored grain is a regular occurrence, which he says makes it both easier and safer to detect issues early on.
“As soon as we see that something is happening to the canola, if it is starting to sweat or if it’s starting to get a bit warm, we pull it out of storage and move it or dry it,” he says.
In grain bins, heat rising in the centre and cooling off from the colder canola on the outside can lead to issues with moisture and spoilage. Crusted or heated seed at the top of a bin, typically in a cone shape, indicates that quick action is needed to prevent further spoilage.
“If out-of-condition canola is caught early enough, where some of it is just starting to spoil, it’s best to isolate and remove the spoiled canola as soon as possible and then get fans running and potentially move the remaining canola to another bin,” Miller Friesen explains.
“The biggest thing is to catch out-of-condition canola before it impacts the entire bin. When a full bin is compromised, that it is a very scary situation that hopefully few people ever have to experience.”
Proper grain storage and handling practices are pivotal to grain safety
The key to avoiding the nightmare situation of losing an entire bin to spoilage goes back to being proactive with grain storage, which isn’t just imperative for mitigating out-of-condition grain but also for ensuring safety.
“My stance is that I want everyone to go home at night the same way they came to work and the only way to do that is to try and keep things as safe as possible. And being proactive with good canola storage practices is a big part of that,” says Harpe, adding that CCGA, along with Alberta Canola, SaskOilseeds, and Manitoba Canola Growers Association, have been supporters of the Canadian Agricultural Safety Association's BeGrainSafe program since it launched in 2017.
By keeping proper grain storage and safe grain handling at the forefront of everyday happenings on his farm, Harpe says the return is far greater than just unspoiled canola.
“One of my employees likes working on my farm because of how we proactively address safety and he has told me he feels safer on my farm. When you are proactive and work to keep things as safe as possible, it makes for a better working environment, which benefits the entire farm,” Harpe explains.
Although some may have an “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” approach to certain farming practices, Harpe says it’s important for farmers to stay up to date on new techniques and consider the return on investment for technologies that can boost efficiency – such as with monitoring stored grain – and improve safety.
“There is always room for improvement on any farm. At the end of the day, a safe farm is a successful farm.”