Storage Advancements

As the fall growing season proceeds toward harvest, many producers are making storage preparations for their potatoes. With that in mind, several companies have introduced new products and technologies to increase the value of that harvested crop.

Techmark is helping growers address bruising with its Impact Recording Device (IRD). The IRD helps identify areas where tubers are receiving the most stress, from harvest to storage.

The IRD, which is about the size of a potato, is placed on the conveyer belt with the tubers during harvest and goes throughout the harvest and postharvest stresses. As it moves through the equipment and trucks, it measures the amount of force placed on the tubers, information that can be transferred to a PC or laptop computer where it is interpreted by a specialized program to determine where the potatoes are receiving the most damage. Producers can then ameliorate those problem spots with padding or other material to reduce overall damage.

The IRD helps growers stop bruising damage, making sure everything a guy grows gets into the market for them,” said Todd Forbush, Techmark vice president.

Techmark also has a new software suite, T-Solutions, designed to streamline potato production from field to storage.

“It’s a portfolio of products for a management team from product info to storage info. It’s all together in one spot,” Forbush said. “The reason we pulled that suite together is we want to help guys be more productive at selling everything they grow.”

T-Solutions begins with several field applications, beginning with Qual-Trac, which traces the crop throughout the season from the field through postharvest and storage. Field-Trac records chemical records like inputs, as well as applications in farms and fields, and the program can send work orders to applicators. Bruise-Trac assists growers in organizing the IRD information into a special database.

Several applications are more focused on storage, such as Store-Trac, where team members can access storage control systems from anywhere Internet data is available, which also includes evaluation of settings and conditions in the storage unit. Lab-Trac helps farms evaluate sugar and quality in the storage of the crop.

The most recent addition to the suite is Prescriptive Ventilation. The system was introduced in fall 2014 and will have a full release for the 2015 storage season.

Prescriptive Ventilation is a complete airflow system that allows growers to have better control of ventilation throughout the facility, including the ability to funnel it to areas that are in need of more airflow.

“As growers identify areas in the storage shed that have a high need as far as ventilation, the air system is able to meet that with high air to meet the needs of the crop,” Forbush said.

The system can be remotely controlled through the software, including via smartphone.

“It’s a complete ventilation system that can be routed to any spot in the storage area, so they just turn on the system and route the air to that location,” Forbush said.

Aceto Agricultural Chemicals has received EPA registration for its FreshPack 50EC sprout inhibitor for in-storage applications. The product, which previously could only be used on packing lines, received storage registration in January.

FreshPack 50 EC is a chemical compound that consists of a 50-50 mixture of clove oil and Aceto’s own formulation. FreshPack kills buds and sprouts on the packing line and can also be used as a thermal fogger in storage facilities. It can be applied as a stand-alone product or mixed with Aceto’s Sprout Nip and Amplify products for season-long sprout control.

“It works to burn off the buds or peepers, as well as fully-sprouted potatoes,” said Nathan Oberg, director of business development. “This is important because it can be applied either in compilation with our Sprout Nip product or it can be applied stand-alone as a rescue treatment or to burn off buds prior to moving the potatoes out of storage or packing potatoes.”

BioSafe Systems recently released a new sprout inhibitor, Arret, which will be ready for the 2015 storage season. Arret is comprised of a fatty acid formulation made out of food-grade ingredients and has no use restrictions. The product can be used on the packing line to burn sprouts on contact or as a fogging treatment.

The company is still awaiting EPA registration for storage applications, although they believe it will be ready by the end of 2015 or start of 2016.

“Arret in-storage is working on federal regulations, but it is approved for the pack line,” said Mark Milenski, BioSafe potato program manager. “We expect to get it in six to nine months.”

Gellert has added two new features to its Agri-Star control panel. Both features can be controlled manually or by apps on smartphones, or anything with a web browser.

One feature is a bay light control. Eric Evans, Gellert manager at the Twin Falls, Idaho Agri Store, said that the Agri-Star control panel will send a text or email alerting you if the bay lights have been left on. This would help prevent greening of potatoes due to over-exposure from storage lights.

“The other feature we’ve added is the pile fan condensation control,” Evans said. The control panel feature will monitor indoor air temperature and outdoor air temperature and will turn on the fans if there is a condensation event.

“When it’s 80˚ F outside there’s no reason to have those fans running, because there’s no condensation event possible,” Evans said. “Just one more step in efficiency.”

Garry Isaacs, founder and product manager for Isaacs Hydropermutation Technology, has developed a machine he calls a humigator. The humigator is placed in the plenum of a storage cellar, and through a system called dynamic multi-venturi (DMV) intercepts and traps bacteria in a pool of water.

“The atmosphere in a potato cellar can become quite saturated with particulates,” Isaacs said. “We set the unit in the plenum and we vacuum the air out of the storage area where the potatoes are, and then we’ll deliver clean air into the plenum.”

Isaacs said that the humigator traps the bacteria that causes silver scurf in storage through the DMV system, and also maintains 95 percent humidity in the storage cellar.

“We find that we’re actually humidifying the cellar without wetting the floor or walls,” Isaacs said.