How long will a commodity mix last in a grain bin?

[Little Joe]

Right now I buy my feed in either bulk bags or sometimes 50 lb bags depending on what I get and what I'm feeding. The 50 lb bags are a commodity mix as well from a feedlot close by, they bag it themselves. The local feed mill will deliver if you buy 3 tons at a time, depending on time of year and what and how many I'm feeding I figure it would take me 3-4 months to feed that. I can get one of those chicken house type grain bins pretty cheap, my question is will the feed stay good that long? If I go this route I would feed them all the same type of mix which would be corn,ddg,corn gluten pellets.

 

[SBMF 2015]

It should.?. As long as you don't have any molasses in the mix it shouldn't bridge. In the summer those bins can sweat and if the feed is in there too long it can stick to the sides. In the winter or if you don't have much humidity I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[BFE]

Yes. What sticks to the side isn't a big deal, just knock it off from the outside with a 2x4 before you get a new load.

 

[Lucky]

We've got a 30 ton bin but only order 12 tons at a time since we only feed about 1,000# a day. To me it seems like after 4-6 weeks the feed looses it's freshness and gets stale. It probably still has it's original feed value though and the cows eat it just the same. We've had feed in there for more than 3 months before and it doe's mold a little but not much. I've also had bugs get in the feed and eat all the goodness but that's only happened once.

 

[Little Joe]

We've got a 30 ton bin but only order 12 tons at a time since we only feed about 1,000# a day. To me it seems like after 4-6 weeks the feed looses it's freshness and gets stale. It probably still has it's original feed value though and the cows eat it just the same. We've had feed in there for more than 3 months before and it doe's mold a little but not much. I've also had bugs get in the feed and eat all the goodness but that's only happened once.

All of the things you mentioned are the things I worry about happening. I've also thought about getting several of those plastic totes with the metal cage around them and putting them on a designated trailer so I can have them filled. They make a grain gate you can mount to the side. I think each tote will hold 1500 lbs. I have an enclosed building I could keep them in that might help with the moisture problem and those totes should keep it from getting buggy.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

I had a friend that had his place logged and did not have any calves for a few years while he rebuilt fences. He gave me 500 lb that was two years old that was stored in a 5 ton skid bin. It looked good and fed fine. He did have the bin in the shade which I am sure cut down on condensation in the summer.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

Have thought about a used gravity wagon if you can park it in the dry? You can usually find one for less than $1,000 and the feed keeps good for months. Mine holds 4 tons. 3 sheets of plywood makes a decent lid.

 

[Ky hills]

We have our bull feed delivered and we store it in gravity wagons, inside of a barn. We get a similar mix. It should keep for that length of time. In the winter I go through currently around 3 ton a month, and in summer that will last several months. Like has been said sometimes a little does stick in the creases ok the wagon and occasionally there will be some clumps of moldy feed, I just throw those out as it's not much usually, and likely from rain leaking in from a spot in the roof.
Shelled corn will keep a bit better but still the dust from that will kind of pack due to moisture too.

 

[Chuckie]

We always purchased it by the ton, and did not have a feed bin, but it was loaded into gravity flow trailer. Kept for a long time and never ruined.