
It’s easy to be captivated by the rush of combines and trailers but a strong post-harvest plan can make or break a successful harvest. Our unpredictable climate has increased the urgency for efficient ventilation and cooling of stored crops, but this is only half the battle. A suitable control system to drive temperatures down as fast as possible is equally as important.
With more than 45 years’ experience in grain storage technology, crop storage specialists Martin Lishman Ltd have developed a wide range of grain quality and crop storage products with thousands of satisfied users worldwide. Driven by demands from the industry, the Martin Lishman line-up supports farmers in their on-going battle to preserve the highest grain quality whilst also reducing energy costs. The company’s industry-leading innovations include the award-winning Barn Owl Wireless automatic crop monitoring system and the UK’s number one crop cooling system Pile-Dry and FloorVent Pedestals and Fans.
Keeping a close eye on the condition of stored crops is critical to making sure the grain retains its quality. Here’s Martin Lishman’s top 5 post-harvest tips:
Temperature monitoring is key
High temperatures can cause deterioration of grain very quickly, so it is essential to monitor the crop to ensure the temperature is consistent throughout the store and grain quality is maintained. Martin Lishman offers systems to monitor stored grain that cater for a range of budgets, including the well trusted MiniTemp hand-held temperature monitor, its new Bluetooth brother, MiniTemp Blue, and Barn Owl Wireless, the fully automatic wireless monitoring and automatic fan control system.
Automatic fan control
An automatic fan controller can bring with it many benefits. Automatically turning on and off cooling fans to make the best use of ambient air conditions ensures the fastest cooling possible but can also save at least 40% of energy costs. Plus, there is the added bonus of reducing trips to the store to manually turn fans on and off, or simply avoiding forgetting to do so.
Additional fans
One of the simplest ways to improve the effectiveness of a pedestal cooling system is to use more fans. It is not uncommon to swap fans between pedestals when required, but this slows down the cooling process and requires more frequent temperature checks. Using one fan per pedestal ensures the cooling power is instantly available when needed and significantly reduces the possibility of hot spots in the grain or forgetting to move fans around.
Hot spot spears
Martin Lishman screw-in Trouble-Dry aeration spears tackle hot spots by simply screwing the spear into the heap and using one of their high output green fans to suck cool air out of the affected area. They are ideal for a last-minute cooling solution.
Consistent quality control
The challenge of achieving the highest quality grain relies on more than just good ventilation. Making sure the store is fit for purpose and carrying out regular assessments can help identify problems before it’s too late. Martin Lishman supplies a range of crop quality equipment such as insect traps to detect the presence of insects, sampling spears to cater for crop moisture testing or lorry load profile sampling, ambient air measurement devices and accurate moisture meters. Most notably, the well known Protimeter Grainmaster was voted best for accuracy in a user survey.
The Martin Lishman team have seen customers transform their crop stores, increase cooling efficiency and obtain a higher quality crop. Talk to the Lishman team for advice on optimising your crop store today!
View Martin Lishman’s crop storage equipment HERE
Sales enquires can be made directly to: sales@martinlishman.com
Stay up to date, follow us on:
Twitter: @Martin_Lishman
Facebook: facebook.com/martinlishmanltd
Instagram: @martinlishmanltd
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/company/martin-lishman-ltd
Keep in touch…
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement | 1 year | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Advertisement". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
lang | This cookie is used to store the language preferences of a user to serve up content in that stored language the next time user visit the website. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
YSC | session | This cookies is set by Youtube and is used to track the views of embedded videos. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_ga | 2 years | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors. |
_gat_gtag_UA_26946611_1 | 1 minute | This cookie is set by Google and is used to distinguish users. |
_gid | 1 day | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visted in an anonymous form. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
fr | 3 months | The cookie is set by Facebook to show relevant advertisments to the users and measure and improve the advertisements. The cookie also tracks the behavior of the user across the web on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. |
IDE | 1 year 24 days | Used by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile. |
test_cookie | 15 minutes | This cookie is set by doubleclick.net. The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. |
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE | 5 months 27 days | This cookie is set by Youtube. Used to track the information of the embedded YouTube videos on a website. |
_fbp | 3 months | This cookie is set by Facebook to deliver advertisement when they are on Facebook or a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising after visiting this website. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
CONSENT | 16 years 7 months 11 days 11 hours 18 minutes | No description |
_ga_W644TJR539 | 2 years | No description |
Keep up to date about future news, events and products from Martin Lishman.