On-farm Storage of Winter Canola: Study of Lined and Unlined Steel Bins Stored Products Research and Education Center Carol Jones, PhD Kevin Moore, Research Engineer Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Oklahoma State University

Canola Storage Concerns Canola seed is very small –115,000 seeds per pound High oil content: ~ 40% “Sweat” or extended respiration producing heat and moisture for 6-8 weeks

Current Canola Handling Sell and ship out of the field to the crusher in Okla. City Flat storage with aeration at the crusher Truck to country elevators. There it goes into steel bins Grain bags on the ground have been used successfully on farm and at the elevator BUT… Producers and smaller elevators wish to use older bins (steel and concrete) and to segregate from other grain and seeds.

Challenges of Storing Canola On-Farm Older bins and small seeds are not a good mix No aeration systems Limited space for grain bags Animal and weather related problems for grain bags on ground Grain bags take up land space and require land preparation

Objective: Seek a method to allow producers to use old infrastructure without aeration for canola storage Thank you, Anderson’s and NC213, for allowing us to launch this project! Goals: Use grain bag material to line steel bins to hold canola in sub-optimal storage structures The “sweat” period would be reduced with the sealed atmosphere storage. Temperature, Grade, FFA, and visual inspection

Preparation and Loading of Bins 170 bu bins, no aeration or ventilation Liner: 9’ diameter polyethylene grain bag donated by Delta Grain Bag Systems, Inc. of Monette, AR WestEast

Evenly distribute bag material in the the bin NO EASY TASK!!! Eventually used a leaf blower to inflate the bag inside the bin Sealed the top of the bag with a heat sealer after installation and filling. Bottom already sealed before installation

Installed a silage bag vent at the top for a sampling port Duct taped around temperature cable, sealed as effectively as possible but not airtight Samples collected from all 6 bins with 5’ long grain trier and transported to Enid Grain Inspection for grading,

Loading of Bins June 4 th – 1000 bu of “Cropland 115” canola received from Kingfisher, OK immediately after harvest, placed in two 500 bu bins

June 5 th and 6 th, Moved from 500 bu bins to 170 bu bins 3 lined and 3 unlined, 6’ diameter steel bins, no aeration, fairly low quality bins due to rust WestEast

Baseline Grade 1, 35.1% avg oil content, 9.1% avg moisture content

Temperature Testing and Data Collection StorMax temperature cable located roughly centerline of the bins, Temps collected 3 days a week for first three months and two days a week after that, Temps recorded at six depths

Temperature: Average by bin

Temperature: Lined vs Unlined

Lined Bins

Un-Lined Bins

FFA Testing Tested according to AOCS Ca 5a-40 method (titration) Sampled weekly for 2 months (June and July) Every 2 weeks for 2 months (August and September) Monthly after that

FFA Testing Results No significant difference in FFA between lined and unlined storage bins during year 1 of the study (α=0.05) FFA stayed below 1% for the duration of storage FFA increased during storage following a quadratic trend, initial FFA was a mean of 0.25% and appears to have leveled off at approximately 0.8%

Grading Graded by Enid Grain Inspection At binning, after 6 weeks, and after 6 months More frequent grading needed, missed the transition from Grade 1 to sample grade All bins still Grade 1 at 6 weeks

Bins 1, 4, 5, and 6 Sample grade at 6 months due to musty or sour smell Visible mold (first noted October 31) Appears to be light surface mold from condensation at the top of the unlined bins Two of the lined bins have a crust of mold at the top of the bag, approximately 1” thick near sample port Bin 4 at a depth of feet has considerable resistance to insertion of the trier, once this region is passed insertion of the trier becomes easier

Grading Infestation of soldier flies in bottom of bin 4 due to water infiltration at bottom of bin (first observed August 27)

Grading Bins 2 and 3 are still Grade 1, One bin is lined and one is not

What are we learning? Lining bins may keep Temperature down Is that a function of less physiochemical oxidative activity? FFA development was not critical in either lined or unlined Questions we still have for next year: How would lined bins compare to aerated bins? When did we lose the Grade 1? How can we manage condensation in the bags? Germination? Seasonal differences (ambient T challenges, seed quality) Commercial scale

Questions?