Management of Stored Barley in Minnesota: Practices Versus Recommendations

With the cooperation of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, a questionnaire was developed to review practices of protecting stored barley from damage caused by insects. The questionnaires were mailed during June 1985 to 1,000 private and commercial barley managers randomly selected by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. A summary of the findings, based on a 13% return of completed questionnaires, revealed a variety of storage practices; some recommended and some not. For instance, most barley managers cleaned their bins before storing new grain, but very few treated these empty bins with a residual insecticide. Of the total 551 bins used for barley storage, 31% of those in private facilities and 38% of those in commercial facilities were equipped for aeration. About half of the managers cooled their barley to a specific temperature during winter. Few managers warmed their grain during spring. Periodic grain monitoring and sampling methods were inadequate to detect insect problems. Fewer than 40% of the managers surveyed applied chemical grain protectants or fumigants to stored barley to suppress insect populations. Malathion was the most commonly used protectant. Commercial managers were marginally better than private managers in following recommended methods of grain storage.