County Agent News

Dan Folske

October 4, 2010

Check Stored Grain

                The last week of warm dry weather has finally moved harvest along and many producers are finished or getting close to finished. The earlier cool wet weather resulted in a lot of wet grain being harvested. Even in aeration bins wet grain may cause storage problems As temperatures cool off  we will soon regularly get frost on roofs every morning this becomes a good time to check grain bins for heating problems. Early morning drives provide producers with the opportunity to easily observe grain bins. If one or two bins in a row have no frost on the roofs when the rest of the bins do it is a quick indicator that you may have a storage problem developing.  If the grain nearest the roof is not cooling off and is keeping the bin roof too warm for frost to develop you need to check it out carefully. It may be that the grain mass was just a little warmer than that in other bins and has not yet cooled naturally but it may mean that an insect or spoilage problem is developing and creating heat. This same easy method can be applied to those long grain bags too. If  a portion of one bag has no frost when the rest of the bag does it may be a warning sign.

Fall Grass Seeding

                Fall is a great time to seed grass but timing can be critical. Early September seeding provides grass the chance to grow and establish a root system but October seeding and even early November seeding if we get warm weather after the grass is seeded can result in sprouting and enough growth to deplete the energy reserves of the seed without getting the seedling well enough established to survive the winter and thrive in the spring. Usually by late November soil temperatures have cooled off enough so a dormant seeding can be done. Dormant seeding generally preferable to spring seeding because germination and growth can begin as soon as conditions allow it in the spring without having to worry about muddy yard or field conditions.