“If I’m not supposed to eat late night snacks, then explain why the fridge has a light.”

    – Unknown

Steady food supply is the cornerstone of civilization. Most folks might not consider food storage challenges beyond the confines of the kitchen appliance. But imagine that what happens in a “bin” lies at the heart of our ability to feed the world. Of 50,000 edible plants on earth, three plants – rice, maize, and wheat – provide 60% of the world’s energy intake. To flatten the peaks and valleys of production, storage is required. Bins containing all that producer investment in management, seed, fertilizer, land costs, and machinery, attempt to keep moisture and vermin away. Crop loss estimates range from 1-2% in the developed world up to 50% in the developing world (Src: 151Research Inc.). Minimizing storage losses is therefore a significant economic issue for producers, and a significant social issue for societies.

Current stored grain monitoring systems have a number of challenges. Consisting of a series of cables hung from the roof of the bin with each cable containing temperature (or occasionally moisture) sensors at four foot intervals, the “view” of these cables is very coarse. Larger bins require the expense of 10’s of cables to effectively monitor. Temperature sensors (the most common) only detect problems after the grain has spoiled; the process of grain spoiling involves higher moisture content, followed by grain sprouting, followed by temperature increase. The cables also regularly break and create maintenance issues, and require bin manufacturers to strengthen the bin roof.

A more innovative solution would have significant market potential; grain bin monitoring systems are installed in roughly 50% of grain bins sold by western Canada grain bin companies, with a roughly $30 million dollar annual market. In context of Canada which has an amenable storage climate, the global market for monitoring solutions is a vast one.

Manitoba-based 151Research Inc. is pioneering a cable-disruptive monitoring solution involving the use of radio-frequency (RF) imaging technology to create moisture maps of stored grain. Moisture mapping indicates both risk of spoilage and commercial quality. Working with Professor Joe LoVetri’s Electromagnetic Imaging Lab in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Manitoba (U of M), 151Research Inc. has developed a proof of concept monitoring system that provides a full 3D image of the moisture content inside the grain bin at high resolution. Advantages of this approach include ability to:

  • Detect the pre-conditions to spoiled grain (i.e., exact moisture content).
  • Remove cable-based maintenance issues.
  • Determine exact moisture content and obtain better pricing for the producer.
  • “See” grain bin content without having to enter the full bin (which is very dangerous).
  • Monitor and optimize grain drying in the bin (by monitoring moisture content).
  • The concept has been proven on small table-top systems and in a 20 tonne hopper-style bin at the U of M’s stored grain research lab. 151Research is pursuing a path to commercialization and is seeking grain company investment.

“PAMI presents grain storage seminars to approximately 400 producers and agronomists every year. The interest in grain monitoring technologies, particularly 151Research Inc.’s imaging technology, is very high. Many producers are eagerly anticipating this type of product reaching the market.”
– Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI)

151Research Inc. was founded in 2011 by Drs. Paul Card, Colin Gilmore, and Ian Jeffrey and is focused on commercialization of new state-of-the-art imaging techniques derived from research activity during and after graduate studies at the U of M. Paul had a 15-year tenure as a Senior Research Scientist at TRTech. Colin is currently a Research Scientist at TRTech.