Specialty Grains Require Special Handling, Cleaning

Specialty Grains Require Special Handling Cleaning CROPS Miscellaneous Increased interest in heritage grains that are produced and processed locally has income potential for farmers large and small However two things are necessary if an operation is going to be successful according to specialty grain grower Robert Perry You have to have a market and you need to produce a high-quality product “If you don’t have a market for your grain the high prices you hear about don’t mean anything ” says Perry “If you want to grow half an acre that’s great if you have a baker with a mill that wants to buy the grain from you However if you want to go wholesale you have to have high-quality vomitoxin-free grain ” Perry grows barley under contract to a malt house Last year the vomitoxin was above 0 1 percent and it all went for feed barley instead “If you have a ton of grain that isn’t up to standards it has no value ” he says Perry uses a Lightfoot screen cleaner made by American Metal Fab to process his grain He also uses it to demonstrate grain processing to interested New York growers as part of the Value-Added Grains Project sponsored by the Northeast Organic Farmers Association www nofany org While a good combine removes hulls on wheat and barley removing weed seeds chaff and other non-grain material requires special equipment like the Lightfoot “I also use an old Clipper fanning mill ” says Perry “It does a good job cleaning small batches of grain ” Thor Oechsner has earned a reputation for high-quality grain and flour with top rank bakers and chefs in New York City He raises small grains on his 1 200-acre farm and is a part owner of Farmer Ground Flour In order to meet growing demand he also contracts with other farmers to grow grain for the mill “We raise food grade grain for our flour milling and also to sell to distilleries and malt houses ” explains Oechsner He agrees that the demand for certain varieties of wheat barely and rye is really taking off However it has to be clean and of a certain quality “The first basic piece of equipment is the rotary grain cleaner or air screen cleaner It has a rotating drum with screens to take out big stuff and fines ” says Oechsner He emphasizes that grain needs to be at the right moisture content and in good condition to store for a long time “Every time we move it it goes through a barrel cleaner ” he says “We also have a fan that blows a hard stream of air across the flow of grain as it comes out of the truck to be unloaded ” Oechsner also uses a gravity table As the grain moves across it air blows fines and lighter material away from the grain flow “An air screen cleaner can clean for shape and somewhat for weight by controlling the air blast ” he says “However certain weeds like vetch corn cockle and wild radish are exactly the same diameter as wheat seed and pretty close to the same weight The gravity table can take out things that are the same shape but have slightly different weights ” Round seeds like vetch and corn cockle may require even another machine For these seeds Oechsner suggests using an indent cleaner It is a metal drum with round dimples or pockets in the screen As the drum rotates the grain falls away and the round vetch and corn cockle stay in the pockets falling out later and separating from the grain Oechsner advises watching newspaper ads and online sites for old equipment He found an air screen cleaner and other equipment when an old dry bean plant was being sold off “The screens are really expensive if not included with a used one ” says Oechsner “I bought one from an old farmer in Ohio for $250 and each new screen cost $250 ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Thor Oechsner 1045 Trumbulls Corners Rd Newfield N Y 14867 ph 607 564-7701; www facebook com/thor oechsner

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