Northern Plains farmers had one of their wettest years on record in 2019. Many are now in the process of storing their grain they did get harvested for the winter. Iowa State University Extension Ag Engineer Kris Kohl says they need to inspect their bins and make sure that corn doesn’t get wet and moldy and filled with mycotoxins. He says if corn didn’t black layer, then problems can result as the corn doesn’t convert all the sugars to starches which allows bacteria to come in.
He says as the bacteria heats in the bin, it then grows very quickly and impacts the corn like a bomb hitting it.
Kohl says farmers need to keep the bin cool so they avoid molds and mycotoxins from developing and damaging the corn.
Kohl says if temperatures are above 40, it’s advisable to keep the fans on to dry the corn down.
Kohl says don’t ever turn the fans on when there’s a ground blizzard or snow blowing as it can get inside the grain bin and create even more problems.
