Thoughtful post-harvest handling is an essential component of bringing food-grade small grains to market. Many food-grade grain growers say that growing the crop is only half the work and investment, whereas the other half is proper post-harvest handling and storage. Here is a simplified overview of the process:
AGC's Post-Harvest Handling project was developed to help farmers get started or improve on their small grain post-harvest handling. If that's you, check out the equipment spotlight and video series shown below featuring farmers who are growing food-grade wheat and rye on small and mid-size farms, from five acres to hundreds of acres.
For more on grain processing and equipment recommendations, see the New Growers Guide to Growing Food-Grade Grains
A quick summary of the key pieces of equipment needed for post-harvest grain handling, with descriptions for their roles and other considerations.
This video features Jeff Hake of Funks Grove Heritage Fruits & Grains in Maclean, IL, showing and describing a retro-fitted gravity wagon that serves as a grain dryer, as well as the Pro Boxes they use for storage.
Hazzard Free Farm is a diversified operation in Northern Illinois with 40 acres in organic grains and 10 acres in pasture. In this video Andy Hazzard, Farm Owner and Operator, shows us how to select and safely use grain totes for food-grade small grain storage.
This video showcases how Andy Hazzard, Farm Owner and Operator at Hazzard Free Farm in Northern Illinois, has converted a barge box into a DIY food-grade grain dryer. As Andy, says, "Grain drying, woohoo!"
Granor Farm is a diversified operation in Southwest Michigan growing over 400 acres of organic grains, diversified vegetables, flowers, and pastured chickens. Granor’s largest market outlet is Michigan’s beverage industry–they work closely with craft malthouse in the state, as well as distillers and brewers.
This video features Wesley Rieth of Granor Farm, describing how they get 'wet' grain into their drying system with their continuous flow dryer. For grain cleaning, Granor partners with C-3 Seeds in Niles, MI.
Heartfelt thanks to the participating AGC member farmers who shared their time and expertise with us for this project:
Luke Peterson of A-Frame Farm, Will Glazik of Cow Creek Farm, Jeff Hake of Funks Grove Heritage Fruits & Grains, Wesley Rieth of Granor Farm, Andrea Hazzard of Hazzard Free Farm, and Halee and John Wepking of Meadowlark Organics.
Funding for this project was provided in part by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement number 2020-38640-31522 through the North Central Region SARE program under project number ONC21-090, "Developing educational resources for improved postharvest handling of value-added wheat and rye on small and mid-sized farms. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
