30/10/13: Storage on farms need to be up-to-the-mark

Controlling insects and pests in grain storage required air-tight silos and other containers if farmers want to protect their crops, according to an industry storage expert from PCB Consulting, Peter Botta. He has been talking to farmers promoting a project that is part of a Grains Research and Development Corporation.

Mr Botta has presented 38 times to growers over the past half year in the run up to harvest in an attempt to improve on-farm storage to protect quality and hygiene. Growing resistance to some insecticides and the removal of dichlorvos from the US market have heightened industry concerns about farm storage.
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English: Old grain storage barn (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

GEAPS foundation receives USD$500,000 from CHS foundation

The GEAPS Foundation is pleased to announce it is one of five organisations selected by the CHS Foundation to receive funding through CHS Inc.’s new national agricultural safety initiative.
 

The CHS Foundation’s USD$500,000 contribution to the GEAPS Foundation’s Professional Development Programs Endowment Fund represents the largest contribution to the fund to date. The GEAPS Foundation was established by the Grain Elevator and Processing Society (GEAPS) in 2011 as a mechanism to secure a stable and predictable funding stream to support GEAPS’ training for grain and processing industry operations professionals.

“CHS’s generous contribution supports the development of courses for the GEAPS/Kansas State University (K-State) Distance Education Program. It also demonstrates the vital role for industry businesses in helping to fund development of courses needed to train the next generation of grain industry operations professionals to safely and sustainably feed the world,” said Mark Fedje, GEAPS Foundation board chair, and terminal elevator maintenance team leader, General Mills.

The GEAPS/K-State Distance Education Program provides online, peer-reviewed CEU courses taught by grain industry leaders in operations safety and grain quality management, facility design, materials handling and equipment maintenance. The courses help strengthen the skills of today’s workforce and grow the knowledge of tomorrow’s grain industry professionals. In 2012, the industry’s first-ever credentialing program, offering the Credential in grain operations management (CGOM), was added.

“CHS and the CHS Foundation recognise that meeting the food needs of a growing population requires significant enhancements in our production systems. And, the health and safety of the workforce will be a key component. The GEAPS/K-State Distance Education Program is well suited to help meet that need,” said William Nelson, CHS vice president, corporate citizenship and president, CHS Foundation.

“CHS’s leadership in supporting continued expansion of top quality education programs will help GEAPS and K-State develop the courses needed for grain industry workers to stay current with state-of the-art methodology to safely handle, store and process grain in order to maximize its quality and availability for food products,” said Bill Lyster, GEAPS International board chair and special projects manager, Ag Partners.
The GEAPS Foundation is working to raise USD$4 million over five years to support the GEAPS/K-State Distance Education Program. All money raised will go the Foundation’s Professional Development Programs Endowment Fund, which will help fund the enhancement and expansion of the GEAPS/K-State course offerings.

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English: Grain elevator (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Brabender instruments: Farinograph AT; GlutoPeak

With its technological principle, the Farinograph by Brabender® located in Duisburg, Germany is the most important and best-known device for determining the water absorption of flour and the rheological properties of dough worldwide. In addition to effective and reliable work processes with tried and tested standard methods, users in the grain chain have constantly expressed a desire to open up new perspectives where quality assurance and product development are concerned.

The field of flour analysis is faced with ever-increasing demands in combination with the corresponding foodstuffs technology specifications for products in a highly diversified market that is becoming ever more international. The accuracy, reliability and reproducibility of the experimental results that are required for this are all important elements for professional discussions and for successful business relations between flour manufacturers and processors.
 

The new Farinograph AT combines both customer requirements and suggestions in a compact
device. Here, AT stands for advanced technology. The device represents the continuation of a farinographic success story which is currently in its fourth generation. Through innovative technologies and process-related optimisations, the reproducibility of the results and new options for the user have been improved, as have the operational reliability and ease of service.

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Farinograph AT - High-tech in its fourth generation

Gluten quality is an essential criterion for the evaluation of baking properties. This has to happen as quickly and easily as possible, and above all be reliably reproducible for quality management. The innovative and patented GlutoPeak process by Brabender® offers a clever technical solution as an alternative to the rather error-prone rinsing method “by hand”, which is followed by a time consuming gluten evaluation in the laboratory. 

In order to describe the functionality of flours, bruised grains, baking mixes or vital gluten, the aggregation behaviour of the gluten component is measured in a sample. The device first separates the gluten, and then aggregates it into a characteristic network before destroying it with the rotation of its mechanical measuring paddle.
 

Time curves and torque curves of the physics of the gluten are recorded and displayed by the GlutoPeak graphically as graphs. The time to reach the maximum point on the curve, the peak, its height, and the following decline of the curve provide essential information on gluten quality—all of which appear within moments and are easily readable at a glance. Strong gluten results in very fast and high peaks, while weaker quality grades are identified by their delayed and flatter peaks on the curve – down to “null peaks”, which are for example, typical for biscuit wheats.

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GlutoPeak - Quick peak values for gluten testing