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Question

What is your advice on storing organic grain before shipping and selling?

Answer

You should check the quality of your grain. It should be clean of chaff and weed seeds when you put it in the bin. Many farmers run their grain through a rotary screen cleaner to reduce extraneous matter that could encourage insect problems. The cleaner your grain is when you ship it, the less “dockage” your buyer will take off your payment.

If you have your own livestock, you can feed them undersized, splits or lower quality grain on-farm. If you do some pre-cleaning, you are able to retain these culls for your own use.

Always thoroughly clean the bin each year before using it. If it has a perforated floor, pull that up and clean out any old grain or chaff to prevent infestations from starting in the new grain you put in the bin. The best method of pest control is prevention.

If pests have been an issue in your bin, consider putting some diatomaceous earth on the bin floor, adding a little more as you are loading the grain to prevent insect problems. See the Insecto website for recommended amounts and usage directions (www.insecto.com). If you use D.E., tell your buyer, since sometimes it can be hard on their equipment. They would like to know it was used in your bin. D.E. use is approved for organic production in post-harvest handling.

If your grain could have vomitoxin, aflatoxin or other mycotoxins due to wet weather or harvesting when not completely dry, have it tested so you know what you are shipping. Depending on the buyer and how they’ll use your grain, you might be able to ship it with some mycotoxin in it. Knowing levels ahead of time will prevent you from shipping grain that could be rejected at the buyer’s loading dock.

It is also a very good idea to retain samples from each bin you ship from, in case there are any questions about the quality of your grain.

If you question the testing or quality opinion of your buyer, and you shipped all of it without retaining a sample, you don’t have any evidence to rebut their test or quality rating. Many local feed mills can do some basic testing for you, including test weights, so you know ahead of time what you are shipping and don’t rely solely on the buyer’s tests.

Lastly, always verify the truck that comes to the farm to pick up your grain is clean. Even if it comes from an organic buyer, the trucker may have transported GMO grain before coming for your load. GMO testing is very sensitive—GMO DNA can be found even in a speck of dust. It is to your best advantage to have that truck cleaned before you load that valuable crop of organic grain you worked so hard to grow. If the load tests positive for GMO due to a dirty truck, the trucker will still get paid for hauling the grain, but you will lose your organic price. Don’t be shy to request cleaning the truck before loading your grain.

Remember to complete a clean truck affidavit, and document all other crop and equipment cleaning activities on the farm to show your organic certifier you are doing your due diligence to protect the organic integrity of your crop.

Posted: Sep 2014
Answer By: Harriet Behar