By Dori Modney with files from Alberta Agriculture

It’s a valuable crop, so canola needs protection from bin spoilage

Oct 28, 2021 | 4:19 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB. — With historically high canola prices, producers are being encouraged to protect the integrity of the crop they have in storage.

Neil Blue, the provincial crops market analyst with Alberta Agriculture and Forestry notes issues have already turned up in stored canola seed.

“Canola harvested with either green canola or cereal seeds or green plant material increased the risk of spoilage and some canola has already been reported as spoiling in storage.”

Many parts of the prairies received some late season rain, which stimulated widespread plant growth and led to harvest delays and difficulties, particularly for canola.

Blue explains standing canola was stimulated to grow after the dry summer, leading to late flowering and even some seed development in immature pods. In the absence of a killing frost, swathed canola soon had fresh canola growing into the swaths.

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“Although canola for marketing purposes is considered dry at 10 per cent moisture, safe longer-term storage moisture levels are below 8 per cent. If it is binned at high temperatures, canola can even spoil at 6 per cent moisture.”

According to Blue, canola `respires` for a month or more aftern being stored in a bin.

“This respiration can release moisture, which in turn can cause heating. Aerating canola during this respiration period will reduce or eliminate the chance of spoilage.”

Once the temperature turns colder, some producers also “turn” their canola by removing some product from each bin and letting it sit on a truck for a day or more, before retirning it to the bin.

Aerating and turning will help to even out the temperature of the stored canola and break up the natural temperature and moisture flow within the bin.

For more information on managing stored crops safely, the Canadian Grain Commission has a variety resources to help producers manage moisture, temperature and insects.