From traditional woven sacks to metal, concrete and plastic containers, there are many ways for safely and effectively store and transport seed and grain. No matter what method you choose to use, it's extremely important to select the option that:
- Best suits your operation
- Creates the most successful storage and shipping process for your business
- Streamlines the process and experience for your customer.
Let's examine 5 ways that flexible intermediate bulk containers, also known as FIBCs and bulk bags, can increase the longevity of your seed and grain through the storage process.
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Advantage #1: Filling and Discharging
Finding a solution that is customizable to your favorite method of filling and discharging your seed and/or grain is imperative. If your operation prefers a bulk storage method that can be equipped for open top or spout top filling, bags can be customized to meet your needs. Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers have a variety of filling and discharging options including multiple spout sizes and top options.
Advantage #2: Moisture Protection
Open top bulk storage options leave your seed and grain exposed to the elements that can either damage or destroy your product. Moisture can cause seed and grain to mold resulting in lost product and money.
When moisture protection is a must, coated FIBC bulk bags can offer great moisture protection. Coated bags have an additional polypropylene film that can be added to either the inside or outside of the bag. In addition to the polypropylene film, Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers can also be accompanied by a polyethylene liner for additional moisture protection.
Advantage #3: Pest Protection
Insect and rodent infestations can cause contamination and deterioration of your seed and grain and it is imperative to your operation and profitability that you keep these pests out. Metal, concrete, and plastic bulk storage systems are more likely to result in high loss from insects, rodents, and even birds.
Flexible Intermediate Bulk Containers can be completely sealed, and polypropylene is very hard for rodents to chew through. Also, by using bags for storing your product, you can also isolate infestations to individual bags rather than entire silos or other large bulk containers.
Advantage #4: Effective Utilization of Space
Depending on what time of the year it is, storage space can get tight (especially during harvest). For crops requiring a drying period, there is a special bulk bag solution that allows for maximum use of space; stackable flexible intermediate bulk containers.
The name says it all. With stackable bags, it is safe to stack them on top of each other allowing you to maximize your storage space and make use of the vertical storage space that may not be utilized otherwise.
Advantage #5: Low Maintenance
One of the challenges of using large storage containers is maintaining optimal seed/grain hygiene. If an infestation occurs in a silo or mill, nine times out of 10 it means you will lose your entire supply within that storage container.
Not only are FIBC bulk bags low maintenance and low cost, if one bag of product is contaminated, it doesn’t necessarily mean the rest of your product in the other bags will be contaminated as well. By using bags, contamination can be isolated easily saving the rest of your product.
Thanks for reading!
Thanks for reading about the advantages of using bulk bags for seed and grain storage.
Safety and reliability are our top priorities. Each bag that we sell has a safe working load (SWL). To make sure the product you’re packing will not exceed the SWL of the bag you’re interested in, you’ll need to know the bulk density of the product you’re packing as well as the cubic foot capacity of the bag.
Click the button below to download our Product Weight Guide and FIBC Volume Calculator to help you determine how much weight a specific bag will hold.
