NEW SILO BUYERS GUIDE: PART 1
If you’ve been storing your grain in bags, looking at starting to grow on your property for the first time, or your current grain storage system has seen better days, it may be time to start shopping around for a new grain storage solution.
Whether you choose an Australian designed and manufactured system from Optimum Silos, or another agri dealer, there are a few things you’ll need to keep in mind.
But first, let’s look at why you might want to consider storing grain on-farm in silos, rather than in bags or with a grain marketer.
There are three key benefits to on-farm silo storage, as experienced and noted by our growers:
Improved harvest transport and logistics: If you’re wanting to get your grain off quickly, you won’t want to be making trip after trip to the weighbridge to offload it, and losing crucial harvesting time. Additionally, you’ll be able to lower labour costs by storing on-farm, and not having to have drivers in the paddock and at the weighbridge.
Flexibility to market your grain when it suits you: Prices not looking as you’d hoped? If you’ve got a sealed silo, you can lock in the quality of your product, without having to sell it for less than it’s worth. Sealed silos give you the flexibility to be in charge when it comes to when to sell your grain, especially when markets are volatile.
Grain health and quality is ensured: A well set-up grain storage system will allow you to monitor and maintain your stores without too much fuss at all, meaning the quality when the grain goes in and the quality when it comes out and you choose to sell are on-par.
A grain storage system is a significant investment, which has the potential to offer you a large return on investment, if executed efficiently and effectively. Some things you’ll want to consider and speak with your ag dealer about include:
Safety
Fumigation
Aeration
Hygiene
System configuration
Read our Silo Buyers Guide Part 2 for more info on each of these important points.