Pre-harvest checklist: Get grain stores harvest-ready
6th May 2021
Dealey Environmental has put together five top tips to help you to prepare stores ahead of the harvest, so you can keep your grain in good order.
1. Clean early: It might be the worst job of the year, but don’t leave it until last. The quicker you get infestable material out of the door of the store, the better. Most insects take time to build up a decent population. Therefore, if you remove their habitat, they won’t get the chance to infest the good grain coming in at harvest.
2. Insect traps: Do you have insect traps in place? These are usually cheap to buy and contain an irresistible storage insect pheromone. Insects will soon show up in the traps if they are in the area.
3. Pre-harvest treatments: Does your contractor really know what they are doing? Different stores require different machines to apply insecticide pre-harvest. It’s all based on substrate and droplet size, so ensure you use a reputable and experienced contractor who is able to carry out this treatment in the most effective way possible.
4. Timing of insecticide application: The ideal time to apply insecticide to grain stores pre-harvest is six weeks beforehand. Grain injurious insects go through one whole life cycle in six weeks. Leaving your store for that long with residual insecticide applied will get them all. Just so you know, spraying a few days before harvest is much less effective, and could be a waste of both time and money.
5. Have you planned what will happen once the grain is in the store? Applying a protective insect barrier after harvest stops insects moving in when the grain is hottest and at its most vulnerable to insect infestation.
Get in touch with Dealey today for more advice and to arrange insect traps, pre-harvest grain store treatments and post-harvest grain care: https://www.dealey.co.uk
