Story Posted: April 27, 2010

Monitoring high moisture canola storage: results are in

by Kim Stonehouse, M.Sc., AAg Regional Crop Specialist, Tisdale Regional Services Branch, courtesy of Saskatchewan Agriculture AGRIVIEW publication

Last winter, Saskatchewan Agriculture, together with the Saskatchewan Canola Development Commission (SaskCanola), the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute, Bunge Canada and the Canola Council of Canada conducted an information gathering project on storage of high moisture canola.

Although this project aimed to look at bin and bag storage, organizers found very few producer bins with high moisture canola; consequently, most of the information reflected bag storage. There are some preliminary results worth reporting even though the project is ongoing.

	It remains important to carefully monitor stored canola, regardless of the storage system.

When harvest resumed towards the beginning of November, staff from Saskatchewan Agriculture and the Canola Council of Canada began monitoring 19 bags of canola ranging from nine to 14 per cent moisture content. Monitoring consisted of measuring internal bag temperatures at multiple locations for indications of heating or spoiling grain.

Of the 19 bags monitored, two bags were emptied within 28 days after filling due to a lack of cooling or a temperature spike at some point during the monitoring process. Moisture content of these two bags was between 13 and 14 per cent. Storage in all other bags was only interrupted for drying and/or marketing. While some bags still contained high moisture canola in March, the current condition of the grain is unknown and will be determined when the bags are emptied.

Although little information on bin storage of high moisture canola was available, producers indicated that most bin storage was relatively short and the grain was removed for drying within a couple of weeks. Without concise bin storage data, it’s difficult to determine how much, if any, advantage exists for bag storage over bins. However, with two of the bags in the project being emptied due to potential spoilage, it remains important to carefully monitor stored canola regardless of the storage system.

More detailed research will be carried out over the next two to three years, and will look at how the newer, higher oil content canola seed will behave under various moisture and temperature conditions in both bins and bags. The institutions doing the research include the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute, the University of Manitoba and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Research funding is provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and other government and industry stakeholders.

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