Two ways to protect your investment

There's nothing worse than devoting time, energy and money to something only to have it ruined by a completely preventable occurrence. In this case, I'm talking about crops heating in the bin and diseased seed ending up in the ground without a seed treatment.

Sure, turning, aerating or drying grain also takes some time, energy and money, but after all the work you put in to growing the darn crop, it'd be a shame to lose a portion of it in storage.

All crops can spoil, even ones that went in dry, and fall isn't the only time to watch for heating either. The Canola Council recently put out the call to farmers to get back out there and check their bins; a very warm April is causing heating problems, even in canola that went into the winter dry. Bins with higher than ideal moisture, very large bins or bins with high dockage are at even higher risk.

Do yourself a favour and make the rounds today. If you've got fans, you might just need to turn them on for a spell. Breaking up any hot spots or compacted areas can also be done by removing about a third of the grain then replacing it up top. Rinse and repeat as necessary.

And while we're on the topic of investment protection, let's talk about seed treating. I know it's pretty common practice, and that's good, but unless you test or treat 100% of seed lots (does anyone?), there's a risk of seedling disease. For a very graphic display of the difference a seed treatment can make, check out this seven-day time lapse video on Bayer CropScience's website.

The reduced germination, vigour and survival rates of diseased, untreated seed is significant. If you're going to spend all that time, energy and money putting a crop in the ground, a seed treatment is simply affordable insurance.