The Importance of Grain Probes

You have put in the monumental effort to grow your grain through the season, and after harvest you want to ensure your product is free of foreign material, molds, animals and insects. Grading your grain is an important step to getting your grain sold, putting money in your pocket and food on others’ table.  Grain probes play a crucial part of establishing a representative sample of your product, allowing you to take samples from multiple areas and depths in your bin.  Knowing the grade of your grain can save you money and heart ache, giving you an initial estimate of your product’s value before taking the next of many steps to get it from your field to the market.

Keep an eye out for signs of possible damage to your grain.  Outside the bin signs can be leaking grain, bulging sidewalls of your bin, standing water or cracked walls.  Inside the bin, look for bridged grain (the upper surface of the stored grain has become “crusty” and can form a dangerous false ceiling), mouldy grain and insects or animal droppings.

A grain probe allows a predetermined amount of grain to pass through the openings, being retained within the probe for examination. The technique for determining sample sites, as recommended by the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, is to divide the grain into quarters and take three probe samples from each quadrant  allowing you to look at each area for evidence of mold, insects or excessively wet grain.

At AgPoint Precision we offer a variety of grain probes, including a spiral grain probe, which is particularly useful for sampling loads where the foreign material is likely to be heaviest at the bottom of the bin.  We offer you decades of service experience, providing you with the proper equipment to get you from planting to pay day with the least amount of stress. Contact us about ordering your sampling equipment today!