Agnew: Determining Best Practices For Summer Storage of Canola
Date: March 2017
Term: 1 year
Status: Completed
Researcher(s): Joy Agnew, Jay Mak, PAMI, Humboldt SK
SaskCanola Investment: n/a
Total Project Cost: $60,000
Funding Partners: ACPC, MCGA
Project Summary
For longer-term storage of canola, determining the best management practices to maintain proper temperature and moisture in the bins during the prairies’ hottest months is required to minimize the risk of spoilage. Researchers at PAMI conducted an initial study in 2014, followed by a second study in 2016 to validate the findings. Overall the results were similar, showing that leaving the canola alone resulted in the most stable and favorable storage conditions throughout the summer months, provided the canola is dry (<10% moisture content) and uniformly frozen (to <-5°C) going into the spring months. Canola with different starting conditions might behave differently and require additional management measures. Canola should always be monitored during storage to minimize the risk of spoilage.
Producers are storing increasingly more canola in bins during the summer months due in part to year-round delivery contracts, growth in market and production, and increased bin capacity. Determining the best management practices to maintain proper temperature and moisture in the bins during the prairies’ hottest months is required to minimize the risk of spoilage.
Researchers at PAMI conducted an initial study in 2014, followed by a second study in 2016 to validate the findings. The projects focused on evaluating the most common practices of aeration, turning, and taking no action, to determine which practice would minimize the risk of storing higher moisture canola. The 2014 study indicated that leaving the canola alone, as opposed to turning and aeration resulted in the most stable conditions, provided it was cooled and very dry (6%). The objectives of the subsequent 2016 study were to collect additional bin-scale data and determine if higher moisture content (9%) canola should be managed differently if it is to be stored over the summer months or for longer periods.
For the 2016 study, the temperature profile in three 3,700 bushel bins on a commercial farm near Humboldt, Saskatchewan were monitored throughout the summer from June to August. Researchers also collected in-grain storage data near the upper edge of the bin and from any existing grain monitoring systems at three farm sites in a 200-km radius of Humboldt, with a total of five additional bins ranging from 2,700 bu to 10,000 bu, using a custom mobile probe system. Several sensors were pre-installed in the bins and connected to a data acquisition and wireless transmission system to allow remote monitoring of the bin conditions. The bin conditions were regularly monitored through an online platform. An initial representative grain sample was also collected and analyzed for moisture content, dockage, and green seed content.
Each bin was subjected to a different storage practice and the grain temperature and relative humidity (RH) was monitored until the grain was unloaded. Treatments included one bin was left alone as a baseline or ‘control’ bin, the second was ‘aerated, and the third was ‘turned’. For the ‘aerated’ treatment ambient air was forced though the bin. For the “turned” treatment, approximately 400 bu of canola was removed from the bottom and replaced on the top. Both turning and aeration are common practices to help equalize the temperature distribution in the bin.
Overall, the results were similar to the 2014 study results, indicating that leaving the canola alone resulted in the most stable storage condition when compared to turning and aerating. In both years of the study, turning the bin at the beginning of June resulted in the lowest average bin temperature at the end of the monitoring period while aerating the grain in June resulted in the most uniform temperature distribution at the end of the monitoring period (See Table 1). However, both turning and aeration resulted in unstable conditions for a short period of time that may have resulted in condensation in the grain.
Table 1. Key temperature indicators at the end of testing for both trials (°C).
Overall, leaving the canola alone resulted in the most stable and favorable storage conditions throughout the summer months, provided the canola is dry (<10% moisture content) and uniformly frozen (to <-5°C) going into the spring months. Canola with different starting conditions might behave differently than observed in this study and require additional management measures. Canola should always be monitored during storage to minimize the risk of spoilage.
Full Report PDF: Determining Best Practices For Summer Storage of Canola