Now that the winter snow has finally arrived, it's time for another reminder for farmers to make sure they take the time to monitor grain bins on a regular basis. With the variable weather conditions at harvest in some areas, it’s very important to monitor the stored grain closely. Producers want to make sure the stored crop is not losing condition — especially canola. Warren Ward is an Agronomy Specialist with the Canola Council of Canada, and he says ideally you want to see eight per cent moisture or less, with temperatures at 15 degrees Celsius or cooler. "At those levels we would expect to see canola stored fairly well throughout the winter. Some of the issues that can happen, though, are that you could have high green seed content or potentially some green plant material or wheat seeds that went into the bin as well, and those can be where hot spots start to form in the bin," he says. Temperature probes or cables can prove very helpful, while some producers prefer to just turn the grain on a regular basis. Ward says knowing the condition of canola when going into the bin can be useful. "I think most people do have a good idea of what condition the canola went into the bin at. So you know if it did go in a little bit hotter than during the heat of harvest or maybe it did go in with a little bit higher moisture content. I think generally people have a good idea of which bins are going to be more at risk. Again it can pop up in a bin that you wouldn't expect a problem in." For producers that may have an issue of heated canola, Wards says there are a few buyers that will handle it, noting there is a list of potential customers in the November Canola Watch. Source - www.pembinavalleyonline.com