Gage County
1115 West Scott St.
Beatrice NE 68310
Phone: (402) 223-1384
FAX: (402) 223-1370

GARDEN CLEANUP

It is best to cleanup the garden as quickly as possible. Remove all dead tomato, bean, potato, and squash vines. Place them in your compost area out of the garden. Asparagus fronds, peony leaves and iris leaves should also be removed. These cleanup activities help to reduce the load of disease spores which could help invest the plants next year.

It is a good time to fertilize plants which will be making early spring growth like asparagus, peony and iris. A few garden chores now can help begin the success in the 2007 garden.

GRAIN AERATION

Aeration is used to keep the grain at a seasonally cool temperature and to maintain uniform grain mass temperatures, preferably with no more than a 10 F difference in temperature from one part of the bin to another. This can generally be achieved by keeping grain temperatures within 10 F to 20 F of the average outside air temperature.

It is important to understand how cooling occurs in a bin. A cooling zone is established and moved through the grain in the same direction as the airflow. The rate at which the cooling zone moves is directly related to the total volume of air moved through the grain or a function of both the airflow rate (cfm/bu) and the number of hours the fan is operated.

When changing grain temperatures during the fall and spring, run the fan continuously until the cooling or warming zone has been moved completely through the grain. Move at least one (preferably two) cooling zone(s) through the grain to remove field or dryer heat. Thereafter, move one cooling zone per month through the grain until it is cooled to between 30 F and 40 F.

This helps prevent moisture migration due to uneven temperatures within the grain mass and effectively prevents insect activity in the grain at temperatures below about 55 degree F.

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Extension is a Division of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln cooperating with the Counties and the United States Department of Agriculture.
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