Grain storage

[Travlr]

I've stored grain in all kinds of things. Everything from old wooden buildings built specifically for grain storage to corrugated, galvanized commercial bins, plastic garbage cans, hundred year old wooden bins held together with hand made nails, nylon bags, paper bags, plastic buckets, steel or tin cans... you name it.

It seems like everything has a downside and often convenience isn't the best idea. I've had mold, mice, damp, and heat damage my feedstocks. And sweet feed has different requirements than dry feed.

I'm wondering if any of you have any tricks or preferences to storing grain that I or others here haven't tried and maybe you would be willing to share.

I don't know why but I've always found grain/feed fascinating. I remember trying to keep mice out of the old wooden bins by patching over the holes with tin can lids when I was six or seven. The local grain store would sew up little 4x6 bags to give to any kid that came in, and I would accumulate some and load them on my toy trucks and had a lot of fun playing with them.

Any knowledge or stories are certainly appreciated.

 

[Stickney94]

Mice are almost impossible to stop but I've been less concerned with them than rats. However, raccoons are the bane of my existence in SW MN. They are prolific, smart, and capable of learning how to open things that most 10 year old kids couldn't figure out.
I don't have any ideas that I'm sure you haven't considered or used. I'm using a gravity box with a homemade "lid" to store ground corn (it's got a hinged door that I can open to load through on top). The price of even old gravity boxes in MN may make that prohibitive at the moment.

 

[WFfarm]

We use 55 gallon steel drums with the band closing lids. NO animal can get in. But air can't either. Some mixed feeds can cake up if left in too long or have too much moisture. We tend to leave the feed in the store bags and put the bags in the drums. This alloys some air in and the feed to breath a little out of the bags.

 

[Travlr]

We use 55 gallon steel drums with the band closing lids. NO animal can get in. But air can't either. Some mixed feeds can cake up if left in too long or have too much moisture. We tend to leave the feed in the store bags and put the bags in the drums. This alloys some air in and the feed to breath a little out of the bags.

I like 55 gallon drums but have had sweet feed eat into them and I've gotten mold if the lid is on too tight. I've used a nail to punch holes under the rim for some air flow but they really need more than that. The worst thing is they are so deep that they're hard to reach getting to the bottom.

 

[TCRanch]

We haul tote bins (one is a Versa Tote) to the Co-Op for cubes and have never had a problem with raccoons or scavengers. And I guess we go through them too fast for moisture to accumulate. On the rare occasion we're feeding out a steer or have a bottle calf, we just keep the bags of grain or starter feed in giant Rubbermaid tubs stored inside the workshop.

 

[Dave]

I knew a gal who used one of those big blue 1,000 gallon plastic water troughs. She said it held a ton of grain. The sides slope out and the rim at the top keep mice out. Plenty of air. They wouldn't work if raccoons or birds are an issue.

 

[wbvs58]

I have a fibreglass 4 ton silo and a metal 21/2 ton silo I added more recently. I think the older fibreglass silo keeps the grain mixes much better. I'll go 6 months over summer and any feed that was left in it was as good as the day it was delivered. The metal silo last year over the same period got weavels in the feed residue left in it. They are situated about 30 metres apart. The metal silo also had some freshly made pellets in it that were delivered in error, they had a strong molasses smell to them and may have had a bit of moisture still from the processing so whether that was an attractant to the weavels.

Ken