Canola growers wanted for survey

The University of Manitoba will use results to develop research projects to help reduce grain drying and storage costs

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

A University of Manitoba researcher is asking canola growers across the country to participate in a survey about grain drying.

Dr. Fuji Jian, an associate professor in the university’s department of biosystems engineering, wants to find out how canola producers dry their grain.

“We don’t know if a lot of canola is dried by high-temperature drier or by natural drying,” he told Farms.com. “Different methods of drying use different technology and that’s what we want to see.”

The survey, which will be available for the next two months, asks farmers questions about yield, bin type and size, fan configuration, the fuel used to run a dryer, approximate drying costs and more.

In total, the survey has 19 questions and will take about 30 minutes to complete. Farmers can save their progress and finish the questionnaire later.

Dr. Jian is hoping at least 50 producers will fill out the survey.

Once the information is studied, the results will help drive further research, he said.

“We can develop the kind of research we want to do, see if there’s a need for new technology and also develop guidelines for farmers to help keep grain drying costs down,” Dr. Jian said.