An article in a recent issue of Feedstuffs magazine indicated that several grain companies in the upper Midwest were recently caught adding liquid bleach to grain in an effort to mask sour or musty odors. The Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) considers adding bleach to grain to be a deceptive practice, and the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) considers attempts to make grain appear better than it actually is to be adulteration. According to the article in Feedstuffs, people caught adding bleach to grain can be imprisoned for up to five years or fined $20,000, or both.
Grain managers can buy a lot of drying and aeration equipment and electricity to operate that equipment for $20,000. The musty or sour odors that people are trying to hide by adding bleach to grain are caused by molds that grow when grain is too wet and/or too warm. Grain molding can be prevented by drying grain to the proper moisture and then using aeration to cool it in storage. Small grains need to be dried to about 13% moisture for storage. Soybeans should be dried to about 13% for six months storage and 11% for longer storage. Corn should be about 15% moisture for six months storage and about 13% for long term storage. After crops are dried, they should be cooled to 20 to 30F for winter storage.
Anyone who doesn't have drying equipment or has bins that aren't equipped with aeration systems, should consider making those investments before the next harvest. I'll be happy to work with you or with grain managers to determine what equipment is needed and how to manage it.
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