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Agricultural confined-space related cases of injuries and fatalities saw a dramatic rise in 2022, including grain entrapment cases which rose nearly 45%, based on Purdue University’s annual report. Iowa had more cases of grain entrapment than any other state at 9 total in 2022. Nearly all of these cases involved grain flow issues due to grain spoilage, which means that improved grain management could prevent cases in the future.

Grain needs to be checked regularly, preferably at least every two weeks, through the winter so that a problem can be detected before it becomes a disaster to deal with. Below are some tips to help manage stored grain during the winter:

2020 corn harvest in Iowa is likely to include increased amounts of damaged grain from the drought, derecho, or excessively dry corn at harvest. As grain bins are filled, fines and broken or damaged kernels tend to accumulate near the center of the grain pile, while whole and higher quality kernels tend to slide to the outer edges of the pile. This leads to a concentration of low quality and damaged grain in the center core of the bin.

Many producers put grain into their storage bins last fall at higher moisture contents than normal, due to late crop maturity and less in-field drying in 2019. For grain stored wetter than recommended for storage through the winter months (above 15% for corn and 13% for soybeans), it is especially vital to monitor grain this winter to get ahead of situations that could cause a loss in condition.

There is a lot of discussion lately about grain storage and quality. I wanted to make you aware of webinars that may be of interest to you. I was part of a regional project that organized a 4-part webinar series focused on stored grain IPM in the north central region. Here are the topics and links to the YouTube videos. 

Part 1: pest insect biology and identification, and basics of IPM

Part 2: pest prevention