page_title: Grain damage
section_title: Filling
hierarchical_section_title: Grain damage / Causes of Grain Damage / Damage During Handling / Filling
caption_attribution_description: English: John Deere 9660STS combine harvester filling harvested soybeans into an auger wagon (J&amp;M product) pulled by a tractor, somewhere in Illinois, USA. – You take for granted the amount of stress in the life of a typical farmer. Here we see the coordinating of a Combine and tractor driver to dump grain into the auger wagon as the combine is still inhaling grain. This makes running into that Lexus in the grocery store parking lot look like child's play, doesn't it?
context_page_description: Grain damage is any degradation in the quality of grain. In the current grain trade, this damage can affect price, feed quality, food product quality, and susceptibility to pest contamination. Between the field and the end use, grain may go through any number of handling operations which can each contribute to grain damage. For example, grain might encounter free fall, conveyors, spouts, grain throwers, elevators, hoppers, dryers, and many more. Overall, these handling methods can be evaluated as to what effect they have on the grain. Damaged grain can often be characterized by the extent to which it reduces storage time. For example, cracked or broken kernels are more susceptible to insect or bacteria as well as chemical degradation. The damage to the actual grain is only one example of losses incurred after harvest. In order to quantify grain damage, one must also understand grain quality. Grain quality is a very broad term and can relate to many topics such as foreign material, chemical compositions, mechanical damage, insect infestations, and many more. These references to quality are highly dependent on the end use of the grain.
context_section_description: Free fall and spouting
  Grain undergoes free fall during many handling processes. For example, the grain is conveyed out of the combine and dropped into some other storage device, usually a grain cart or semi. It also undergoes free fall when unloaded into bins or silos. Grain can be damaged from free fall anytime it is dropped into a new storage device. This damage is dependent on many factors such as type of grain, the height of travel, contact surfaces, discharge size, and impact angle. As grain drop height increases, so does the amount of mechanical damage incurred due to the impact. For the same distance dropped, the highest percent of breakage will be in maize, followed by soybeans and then wheat.  Grain throwers may be used spread grain in an attempt to reach the full load capacity of a storage space, and can increase damage due to the grain undergoing yet another handling process.
caption: Combine using auger to unload into grain cart.
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