Resources

Grain Operations

• U.S. Grains Council Grain Handling and Storage Manual (PDF)

  This U.S. Grains Council handbook is aimed at addressing three key concerns operations managers at grain warehouses and feed mills are often faced with when receiving imported corn: (1) moisture content at 14.5 percent, (2) high amounts of fines that make handling and storage more challenging, and (3) presence of mycotoxins. The practical solutions presented in this handbook address how to successfully manage these challenges from the perspective of the operations manager. 

• Think Safety First When Working near Grain Bins (PDF)

  In this article, Dirk Maier, professor of agriculture and biosystems engineering with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, provides some basic safety guidance.

• Grain Ops: Grain elevator of the future - Part 1

  This article, the first in a series on grain elevators of the future, will focus on two key technologies and innovations that will affect the grain elevator of the future: information and communication technologies (ICT), and autonomous vehicles and transportation. 

• Grain Ops: Grain elevator of the future - Part 2

  This article discusses automatic grain receiving, sampling, grading, and smarter equipment maintenance. 

• Grain Ops: Grain elevator of the future - Part 3

   This article focuses on real-time wireless monitoring and managing of stored grain quality. Future articles will focus on real-time tracking of inventory, lights out and hygienic operations, and digital services.

• Grain Operations: Grain storage management at your fingertips

  This article is about a grain aeration and management app which can help with air-grain moisture relationships, cooling aeration predictions, aeration weather forecasting, and more.

  This app is intended to serve as an engineering tool for grain storage and aeration processes. It was jointly developed by the co-authors of this article representing the Grain Postharvest Group located at the Experimental Research Station of INTA Balcarce, Argentina, and the Post-Harvest Engineering and Feed Technology Group of the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering and the Iowa Grain Quality Initiative at Iowa State University.

• Grain Operations: Causes and prevention of stored grain fires

  This article teaches about stored grain fires with sections on self heating/thermal decomposition of stored grain, best practices, and containment for stored grain fires. 

• Grain operations: Storing imported corn from the United States

  In this article, learn about storing imported corn from the United States including a discussion of moisture and mold management, relative humidity and mold management, ambient and chilled aeration, fines and dust management, coring and un-peaking, cleaning and screening, and monitoring stored grain. 

• S.L.A.M.: Sanitation, Loading, Aeration, Monitoring For Grain Quality Management

  S.L.A.M. stands for sanitation, loading, aeration, and monitoring. This acronym encompasses four areas of best practices for grain quality management.

• Temperature Sensors and Cables: Number and placement are important to effectively monitor stored grain (UPDATED)

  This first article in this series focuses on temperature sensors and explores the number needed on a cable as well as cable placement to effectively monitor the quality of stored grain.

• Grain operations: Temperature cable placement

  The number and placement of sensors, and the interpretation of sensor readings, are key to effectively monitoring conditions in a stored grain mass and managing optimal windows of aeration based on real-time weather data. 

  The second article in this series focuses on the placement of temperature cables to effectively monitor the grain quality during the aeration and storage periods. 

• Feed Ops: Coring Grain Mass Benefits Feed Mills

  Written By Younus Sabbir and Dr. Dirk Maier

  In a previous article, we documented the feed value of screenings, which are quantified based on weight and may be recovered with a screen-cleaning system. When grain is loaded into a storage bin, screenings accumulate under loading spouts where they can create storage problems by retaining moisture, causing mold growth, increasing mycotoxin potential, attracting insects, and causing aeration inefficiencies.

• Feed Ops: Importance of Steam Conditioning

  By Alexis Lambros, George Obeng-Akrofi and Dirk Maier

  KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US — Feed production is the largest expenditure of US Total Farm Production Expenditures, accounting for 18.5% of the estimated $452.7 billion in 2022, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the US Department of Agriculture. With recent growth in modern food systems, the feed industry is facing a series of challenges.

• Grain Ops: Feed Value Of Corn Screenings

  By George Obeng-Akrofi, Younus Bhuiyan Sabbir and Dirk Maier

  KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US — Broken corn and foreign material (BCFM) is a grade factor that, along with screenings produced during handling and cleaning, generally is discounted in terms of monetary and nutritional value. Export buyers consistently cite “excessive fines” as their top complaint when comparing US corn with competitors.