When it comes to farmers, they know what it means to deal with pests. Those who store grain often have to deal with bugs and rats that can get into silos and ruin many months of hard work. Pests can eat through grain and multiply very quickly: this is why it is important to fumigate your grain. According to Statista, there are over 34,000 pest control companies, and not all of them are going to be able to fumigate your grain as we can. Let’s dig into this important process so you can understand what we do.

What Is Grain Fumigation?

Grain fumigation is the process of spreading pesticide throughout your stored grain to get rid of nasty pests. There are many kinds of pesticides, and they each vary by toxicity, management, and what types of pests they target. When it’s time to fumigate your grain, any personnel should have personal protective equipment (PPE) that guards the eyes, skin, and lungs.

How Is It Applied?

Fumigation is a very delicate process that takes quite a bit of time. As with any sort of gas-type pest control, we have to be very careful with our lungs. These pesticides are designed to either kill or deter pests. Generally speaking, we apply the pesticide by releasing gas throughout an entire silo.

How Long Does It Take?

Most fumigation is going to take some time. It takes hours to fumigate a few rooms in a home, and it’s going to take even longer to fumigate something much larger. In our experience, it can take well over five days for the fumigation to be complete in a large grain silo.

Is It Safe?

The last step is venting your silos which can be done by opening vents around the silo and using industrial fans to blow away any unused gasses. During this process, it is heavily suggested that you use PPE to make sure that you are safe from breathing in these fumes. Some can be harmful, others toxic, and some innate. This all depends upon what is used to fumigate your grain.

The best pest control techniques improve your farm and minimize pest invasion which is critical for any self-sufficient farmer. No matter the size of your silos, grain fumigation can minimize pest problems and keep grain edible after a few days. Call Wheatland Pest Management if you're interested in this process. We'll handle it for you with our eco-friendly products.