Grain Structure and Grain Storage

Excerpts from the report Introduction: An understanding of the nature of cereal grains and their behavior during storage is a necessary basis for their proper handling on the farm or after they have left the farm. The 5 to 30 percent damage that occurs annually in stored grains not only results in a huge waste of food and feed but is a financial hazard to grain growers, elevator operators and grain processors. Dockage for damage brings to growers and dealers considerably lower prices for their grain. Damage to grain is eventually reflected in the lowered yields and quality of products made from it, as well as in difficulties encountered in processing. Certain phases of research at the Northern Regional Research Laboratory have been concerned with determining the suitability of stored and artificially dried grain for industrial processing. Some of the work was done in cooperation with the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station, and was especially concerned with the effect of grain maturity and of conditions of artificial drying on the value of corn for wet milling for starch production. In connection with these studies, an extensive survey was made of what has been published on the subject, to determine what is known about causes of grain spoilage in storage—particularly causes other than insect and rodent infestation. Results of the survey form the major basis for this publication.