Aeration Tips

Reprinted from GRAIN JOURNAL March/April 2019 Issue

This article is based on a presentation by Kevin Miles, president of Rolfes@Boone, Boone, IA (515-432-2010). He spoke Feb. 18 at the 2019 Grain and Feed Association of Illinois Convention in Schaumburg, IL.

Maintaining the quality of grain in long-term storage is a complicated topic, and the fundamentals of aeration are particularly so. Here are a few things to be aware of to make the job much simpler:

• Do not overfill your space. This can restrict air flow.

• Have a good checks-and-balances system to keep wet grain out of long-term storage space.

• Create a plan for what you are going to keep, estimate for how long, and make your employees aware of that plan. They need to know because they can make a difference.

• Remember to core those tanks. You need to plan ahead for it, or you suddenly will find you don’t have the space to get it done. For example, a half-million-bushel tank, to be cored properly, will require the withdrawal of about 50,000 bushels.

• When running aeration fans, stick your nose into the discharge air to see if you can detect odor or warm air coming out of the fans.

• Walk around your tanks to make sure all fans are running when attempting to aerate.

• If possible and safe to do so, put your hand on the housing of the fans to make sure that they are not out of balance.

• Once you get your grain cooled, and if you have them, read those temperature cables faithfully. They do tell a story about what is going on inside the bins.

• But remember, even with temperature cables, grain acts somewhat as an insulator and may not pick up a warm or hot spot only 5 or 6 feet away from the cable. Don’t put all your faith into the temperature cable readings, but they are a strong indicator of the conditions inside.

Make certain while aerating and/or pulling grain from bins that your upper vents are not clogged, because this can cause condensation while aerating and/or roof collapse when pulling grain out of the bin.

• Once a bin has been cooled down to the desired temperature for long- term storage, on those cold, frosty, or snowy mornings, look at the tank tops to see if they have snow or frost on them, and if they don’t, that could indicator that you have warm grain in the bin melting that frost and snow away.

• Sealing off the fans, once you have reached your desired aeration temperature for long-term storage, is a good practice.

• Make certain while aerating and/or pulling grain from bins that your upper vents are not clogged, because this can cause condensation while aerating and/or roof collapse when pulling grain out of the bin

• And last on the list, do not enter these tanks, if there is any other means possible to achieve whatever your goals might have been in entering into a bin with grain in it.

Things to Watch Out For

In addition to the above “do list,” there are a few items not to forget before starting any program of aeration:

• If attempting to increase air velocity through a grain mass, are the aeration ducts large enough to accommodate the increased air flow?

• Going into fall harvest, make certain you have performed preventive maintenance on the fans and air ducts and have cleaned out the air troughs.

• Remember, it seems that no two years are alike in weather and grain quality, so what worked last year may not get the same result this year.

• And finally, neglecting to monitor and adjust for aeration shrink can be devastating if you wait until you have total cleanout, so though it is not a true science, doing anything is a lot better than doing nothing.

- Ed Zdrojewski, editor