With the population growing and the food requirements expanding, grain storage units lack the cutting-edge technology that the crops need. It has been challenging, expensive, and inconvenient to transport such a significant volume of the products produced over acres of land to the markets in good condition. It wastes a considerable amount of production in the past. Due to a shortage of storage area, some of the product even gets damaged because they have to be kept outside, where it is exposed to pests and birds. Additionally, even if the crops are sold for the highest price, they would be destroyed within a year, leaving no lasting profit. Therefore, the crops need a quantitative storage unit before being loaded to manufacturers and merchants. The old practice of storing crops in warehouses also has no current advantage. Due to these causes, modern technical storage units have emerged, and many farmers are now adopting them. Hence, they no longer rely on industrial facilities like elevators and instead store the grains themselves. What exactly are these contemporary grain storage and maintenance facilities, and how do their wide varieties vary depending on the situation? Let’s find out in this article.
What are grain storage bins?
The grain storage bins safeguard the grain from natural disasters like storms and floods. They protect the crops from mild precipitation, the hot sun, and brisk winds. Even wet crops that have come into contact with water can be dried and stored for more than a year. The harvest can be dried, kept, and reduced without adding to the expense. It has developed into an alternative to commercial storage for farmers. Farmers can utilize storage bins for drying and storing their excess produce until there is a shortage and a rise in demand. Let’s look into a few of the common types.
Hopper Bottoms
Grain and seed storage is done in hopper silos. They are made to unload through the action of gravity. Hopper bottoms are great for farmers searching for smaller storage options because they are made of iron band braces and are named after their shapes, such as cone bottoms or hopper bottoms. The season’s growth can be directly stored in a hopper bottom, loaded when needed, and even used to temporarily store wet grain as part of a grain drying plant. Because they are reasonably easy to load and unload, hopper bottoms set themselves apart from other storage and crop handling systems. Because there is less surface area to clean and maintain, and grain will be drained every time it is emptied, it is simpler to do so.
Dryer bins
The container used to dry and store the harvest is a dryer and storage bin. They have a hopper-bottom appearance when viewed from the top chamber. The grains and crops enter the top dryer and slide into a chamber-shaped self-cleaning section. The grain is distributed evenly throughout the bin using this chamber as well. The feedstock belongs to the thermal area of the dryer. The prolonged retention time and low temperature cause the yield’s drying quality to improve steadily. Once the crops have completely dried without any moisture remaining, they are cooled and put in the bottom of the bin.
