Economics of using on-farm aeration grain storage

Abstract

A grain harvest simulation model is developed using MATLAB to examine the economics of using on-farm aeration grain storage to minimise the impact of weather damage during harvest. The comparison of return for grain production with and without on-farm aeration is simulated using 10 years (1996-2005) weather data for Goondiwindi, Queensland. The simulation result shows that the grain growers with on-farm aeration grain storage can obtain up to 8% higher return compared with grain growers without the on-farm aeration grain storage facility when grain is harvested between 16 to 22% moisture content (wet basis). At these higher moisture contents, an aerated storage with higher capacity is generally more economical than with a smaller capacity.