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| We pulled some wheat out of a bin at home to get it cleaned for seed and noticed a live bug in some of the cleanings. What can we use to treat the bin because with the price of wheat it may stay there until this winter or next spring? We have used phos-toxin in the past. Is this still the best thing to use? Is there any special technique or application method that makes it more effective? Just wanting to get some feed back on what you have done that works. Thanks. |
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Southeastern Kansas | No one has replied so I will give this our experience. The wheat you get cleaned needs 100 phostoxin "tablets" per thousand bushel when you dump it back into the bin. If not dumping then treat the truck and tarp, however if you are planting soon then nothing may need to be done. The elevator guys tell us to empty the bin and treat as you go into another bin with the 100 per thousand. The bugs can stand lots of cold but will go dormant after the grain temp goes below 50 degrees however as the grain warms in the Spring they will be ready to resume their destruction. We use no other insecticides because they are not consistently good at giving long enough control. |
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| Grain vac blows them out. Sounds to easy but it works 100%
Have done it for years for storage or straight to the elevator
No B.S. |
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| diamostaame earth (sp?) |
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Auxvasse, MO | I use storecide ,reldan as I auger into the bin.Keeps the bugs out. |
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Agent Orange: Friendly fire that keeps on burning. | These old bins are nothing special. Dad buuilt them back in 1968, while I was away doing other duties. They are 24' X 5 rings and I always had trouble storing wheat in them and getting it back out without having bug problems. Thorough cleaning and then spray with Malathion or tempo. Treat the wheat as it went in; with Malathion or Reldan, and some years it would take a dose of the Phostoxin pellets -- and I'd still have bugs and IDK (insect damaged kernels) dockage. I could wait for the wheat to get to 10% moisture and even then I'd have a cone of bugs at the top. About ten years ago, I had had about all the bug type fun a guy could have, so I put a simple aeration system in the two bins. 
As you can see, dad was not much for rebar, and he skimped on the ready-mix. Still it's cheap storage and I can put 15% to 16% moisture wheat in these and it comes out with no bug damage. The blue cable you can see running upwards from the tubes is a temp sensor cable. Here's an outside shot of the two bins: 
I used to just get by with one fan, that I'd move from bin to bin. A few years ago, my son Wane asked me what would be cheaper: Another fan that didn't need to be wrestled with or a trip to see the doc about some corrective back surgery? I added another 3 HP in-line centrifugal fan. You can see the blue temp cable output in these pics. The cable has four temp sensors along its length from bottom to peak. Plug in the reader box and you can monitor the grain temp without climbing ladders when it is cold and slippery out. Here's a close up shot of a three cable port that's mounted on my larger bins. 
I really don't remember the exact cost for the cables. I think, less than $200 for the single run cable. Reader box was another $200 or so?? That cost gets spread across all the temp sensor equipped bins. Now storing grain bug free gets done like this: Sweep and clean the floors of the bins, put in wheat, run fans for a couple weeks if the wheat was much above 14% when it went in, monitor temp and run fans to get the grain to 70° (bug activity slows way down here) as soon as conditions permit, run fans for a couple nights to get temp to 50° or cooler (bugs go dormant here) as conditions permit, Run fans to get grain to 20° or cooler (bugs die at this point) as conditions permit. Once I have the grain to 20°, I just leave it alone until it comes time to take it to market. Some folks will run the fans on the coldest nights, thinking it is better to get the temps to the minus 0° range or colder. Bug guys assure me that it isn't really necessary. I tend to think they're right. I have had no bug problems since I've done this. No expensive chemicals wasted on lesser grain borers, that are resistant to both Reldan & Malathion either. |
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| How do you apply the reldan as you auger it into the bin? We put it in the bin in June with a swing-away auger. It seems like it would be hard to get the proper amount on as you put it into the bin without just putting an excessive amount on most of it. For our operation it would have to be something simple because we tend to take shortcuts at harvest (yes, I know we shouldn't do that, we just get in a hurry). |
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| Our bins have full drying floors but maybe that is part of problem. The bugs may be in the dust under the floor and when we spray them down with malation before putting grain in them we don't get enough through the floor to kill all the bugs. Your thoughts? Also we put the wheat in the bin in June and don't usually get cool enough weather in our part of the country to get the temperature down low enough (70 degrees) to slow the bugs down until late September or early October. I appreciate your comments. |
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Agent Orange: Friendly fire that keeps on burning. | What are your nightime temps right now? If you only have a couple bugs found in the screenings right now, they haven't really had time to establish themselves. I'd turn on the fans and get the grain cooled now. Truth of the matter is, when they really multiply and thrive, is when their environment is around 90°. When there are enough of them, they can make their own heat. I've been in bug infested bins in the middle of winter, and standing in the grain is just like standing in a tub of warm bath water. Having a little aeration in the bin would have cooled that and killed the bugs. Still see guys with air in the bins that will add Phostoxin pills instead of turning on the fans. If you think you have an infestation under the floor, turn on the fans and let them run when its cold outside. You also might see if you can get a positive ID on what kind of bugs are in the grain. In this area, out biggest problem is the lesser grain borer. They are resistant to the commonly used protectants. |
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Central MN | Diatomateous Earth (Hope I Spelled that right). Its basically dirt. But not really. What it is is "Diatoms" (A tiny living organism) that died millions of years ago at the bottom of an ancient sea and piled up hundreds of feet thick. The remains that piled up formed a layer of thier microscopic remains which when mined and screened looks simply like powdered sugar. Under a microspcope the particles look sharp and kinda spiny (I think). Anyway you can handle this stuff with your hands and even eat it if you had a mind to. BUT if it is dusted evenly in grain will scrape the waxy cuticle off of insects causing them to dehydrate and die. Simple, effective and once in the grain, lasts forever AND is not harmfull to people so it can be used for human consumption etc. Does it work? I have applied 1 50 lb bag to each 5000 bu bin since I had almost an entire season ruined by bugs one year. I have NEVER had a bug problem since. Just rigged up a simple Gandy applicator to a hydraulic motor that runs off the auger tractor. dusts it on as its augered in. If you do a search on the www you should find info on it. I had to have the coop buy it for me and they had to buy a 1000 lb pallet minimum which they wanted me to buy. I did and have been using it for 6 years - no bugs. Found a link to the type I use: http://www.diatomitecanada.com/fossil-shell-flour-de-food-grain-storage.htm
Edited by MNRyeGrower 9/17/2009 09:01
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| My dad used to use DE in bins 25 years ago and never had bugs but he couldn't find a reliable source for it and gave up. I didn't remember that until the post above that mentioned it. I have an old Gandy applicator box off of a planter. Is that what you are talking about? How do I go about calibrating how much to apply? I suppose trial and error but how much per bushel would be sufficient to keep the bugs out? Does pulling air through the grain when ventilating move the DE enough to cause problems or will it stay mixed in the grain well enough to keep the bugs out even with air being pulled through it? Does the elevator complain when you haul it to market? I appreciate the reply. |
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| Temperature gets down to high 50's or low 60's the last couple of weeks. I turned the fans on last night and my son is supposed to have turned them off this morning. Getting the temperature of the grain down makes sense. The other thing that makes sense is finding out what kind of bug we are dealing with. Thanks. |
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Central MN | An old Gandy off a planter is exactly what I used. And then took a hydraulic regulator off of an old Grinder Mixer that had hyd driven augers. BUT, I end up running it at full speed anyway. The gandy has an adustment to regulate the rate but of course its not set to pounds per bushel. Its really not very scientific and the amount is not that important in my option. the first year I used it I just dribbled it in with a coffee can as I unloaded. It seems they call for an awful lot of it in thier suggested rates but I only use about a 50 lb bag per 5000 bu. Seems to work fine for me. I don't think air would "move" it once in the bin. I do find that it creates a LOT of dust and actually this helps apply it during Bin filling as the dust seems to settle evenly as it is filling. It can get a bit dusty during truck filling and maybe at the buyer too but they never say anything. First year I put it on too heavy and it actually drug the auger speed down a bit so dont overdo it.
Good luck! Perma Guard is the brand I use and it looks like they're still around. I bet if you do some searching you'll find a supplier. |
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Sucker brook, NY | not to get off track ed, but im wondering what you have sealing the lip to concrete edge of the bin there? thank you. |
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Agent Orange: Friendly fire that keeps on burning. | It's a roof sealer. You can see the upside down pail of it in the picture. Product called Cool-Seal that I bought at the local Ace Hardware store. Looks very similar to the high dollar stuff that the custom bin sealers use and charge big bucks for. I think I paid less than $50 for a 5 gal pail when it was on sale. Bought a roll of 4" wide rayon fabric and used right where the bin met the concrete. |
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Sucker brook, NY | thanks ed, i like the idea of sealing the air leak there...if air can get out, what can get in? |
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What to treat wheat stored in bin on farm.
