At Milling and Grain we are always looking for innovative and sustainable storage solutions to champion. We are forever reminded that by 2050 the global population will have risen to over nine billion people, with this in mind durable storage solutions are vital for ensuing

1. Storage project by Eloise Hillier- Richardson
Sustainable storage solutions for South America
A
t Milling and Grain we are always
looking for innovative and
sustainable storage solutions to
champion. We are forever reminded
that by 2050 the global population
will have risen to over nine billion
people, with this in mind durable
storage solutions are vital for
ensuing food supplies are kept
safely and that farmers and distributors
can get the highest value from each crop
yield, simultaneously decreasing waste
and increasing the economic worth.
Argentinian silo bag producers Ipesa
are no strangers to such innovation;
they have announced that they will be
sending two representatives to attend
Sustainable Intensification 2016 in
Rio de Janeiro, with a view to provide
upwards of 900,000 farms across Brazil
with their silo bags, and to further
discuss storage concerns with farmers
and distributors.
Ipesa have addressed the need for an
inexpensive, yet viable alternative to
steel silos, the silo bags not only boast a
decent capacity – averaging 200 tonnes in
the standard 9 ft by 200 ft silo bag – but
the low cost and ease of maintenance
essentially allows the farmers to regain
control of their crop. The good quality
yield, low maintenance, control and good economics of the
silo bag means they can be hailed as the practical solution to
crop storage problems. We spoke to Juan Martin Dedeu, Ipesa’s
Commercial Manager, about the benefits of the silo bag system
above the more traditional steel silo.
The hermetic ‘air tight’ system
Firstly, he revealed the difference in the way in which the grain
is stored. The grain within the silo bags is stored in a hermetic ‘air
tight’ system; where as the grain in the steel silos are stored in an
atmosphere with air circulation. Mr Dedeu told Milling and Grain,
“The main difference between both storage systems is that in the
steel silo the grain is stored in an atmosphere with air circulation
and in the silo bags it is a modified atmosphere an air tight system
– a hermetic system. The grain consumes oxygen and gives off
carbon dioxide when inside the hermetic bag – in this modified
atmosphere insects and fungus, starved of oxygen, cannot grow
– the grain is dormant and will be kept in that condition until you
open the bag.
The lack of oxygen and high level of carbon dioxide will kill
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2. everything inside the bag except the grain so there is no need for
pesticides. Grain can be kept like this until you take the grain out.
The bags are UV protected and can protect the grain for about 18
months to 2 years, so you can keep the grain for 2 years in perfect
conditions. Usually, though, it is only kept for a year or a year and
a half.”
Economic considerations
Next are the economic considerations. Purchasing a grain storage
system is an investment and it has to be a cost effective one. Mr
Dedeu reinforced this ideology by highlighting the cost of both
steel silos and then the silo bags. “For a steel silo on average you
are going to spend about US$200 per tonne, making the total
spend on a 10,000 tonne capacity steel silo unit approximately
two million US dollars. For silo bags US$100,000 will buy you
all the machinery for the silo bag system. It is a much more cost
effective way to store your crop coming in at about 20 times less
cost than steel silos”.
These lower costs for storage facilities gives the control back to
the farmer, they have increased jurisdiction over when they shift
their crops, they can commercialise the grain at the optimum time
and avoid the peak of the season when the cost to shift the produce
is 20 percent higher. “The farmer can put the silo bag near the
facility or the fields and so can economise on a lot if things. They
do not have to stop harvesting to wait for trucks for example -
there are a lot of benefits to farmers. We can see a lot of countries
who have a lack of infrastructure who are using this system.” Mr
Dedeu told us.
Initially, Mr Dedeu revealed, silo bags were being used in
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3. conjunction with steel silos to compliment the fixed storage units,
however it is becoming increasingly apparent, particularly in
countries will a less well developed infrastructure, that silo bags
are more and more the storage unit of choice. “For example here
in Argentina silo bag usage has increased. Here we produce more
that 110,000,000 tonnes of grain, and of this 110 million tonnes,
almost 57,000,000 tonnes is stored in silo bags, so over half of the
country is using silo bags”.
Encouraging increased silo bag usage
It is hoped that while at Sustainable Intensification 2016 Ipesa
can encourage increased silo bag usage across Brazil, where
currently about 30 percent of grain produced is not kept in good
storage conditions, but held in trucks or in open air. Mr Dedeu
told us that 10 percent of grain stored in Brazil is stored in silo
bags, but emphasised the need for this to increase as the lack of
infrastructure throughout Brazil– long travel between production
and ports and growing areas that are underdeveloped – means the
farmers are missing out on better yields and by extension a better
monetary return.
“Our idea”, Mr Dedeu said, “is to go together with the
production increase – go together in areas where your don’t have
that infrastructure or storage capacity- our idea is to help the
farmers to be owners of their grain. Today a lot of farmers have
to deliver the grain once it is produced because they don’t have
any options or because their options are too expensive. Argentina
produced 50 million tonnes 20 years ago, and that increased
production was possible because of several reasons, but a stand
out reason being the silo bags.
“The increased production with regards to steel silos all depends
on the initial capital needed to fund the upfront costs, whereas the
silo bags have minimal upfront costs and provide a viable answer
to these storage problems. We are seeing the same thing in Brazil
– the use of silo bags is increasing 30 percent every year, so I think
silo bags is something necessary for them to grow in this region.
They also allow for the farmers to be owners of their own grain,
increasing output capacity of these farmers because they now have
somewhere to store their grain.”
More information:
Juan Martin Dedeu, Commercial Manager, Ipesa
jdedeu@ipesa.com.ar
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