Why a good potato storage facility is worth the investment

I recently visited a state-of-the-art potato storage in western Manitoba, a very large building with all the bells and whistles. I could feel the excitement and pride shared by the owner of this large facility as it promises to deliver everything a pile of potatoes would ever need to make it through the storage season in great condition and deliver a great quality product just-in-time to the processing plant.

“Just-in-time” delivery is not new, but necessary to adapt to new expectations of agricultural systems that will address topics like climate change, environmental impacts, sustainability, and export bans – all while improving quality and reducing costs in an ever-changing environment.

Is the considerable investment in such a facility justified? The answer to this question is “precision ag 24/7”. Agriculture has evolved and always adapted to new market trends, with producers having to deliver at the right place and time. This is as old as farming itself.

This spring, an export ban that affected PEI forced the producers to find a solution by stockpiling the spuds. To avoid a loss in quality, the utmost attention must be given to the potatoes during the post-harvest period. Therefore, building an efficient potato storage facility is not only part of effective risk management but also key to supporting and protecting the grower’s investment.

Over the last decade, an increasing level of potato production has been driven mainly by the frozen processing industry to maintain a year-round supply of high-quality tubers. Storage capacity overall has increased, as is the proportion of good storage facilities with improved environmental control. During harvesting season, from mid-August to early October, processors receive potatoes directly from the field. Outside this window, they source potatoes from storage facilities.

Overcoming challenges by building a state-of-the-art potato storage facility
Spuds are living organisms which produce heat through respiration and desiccation through both respiration and evaporation. Keeping this in mind, an efficient storage environment must be built if the tubers are required to be stored for up to 10 months. The goal is to maintain a healthy product by wrapping it in the perfect climate.

To meet all the requirements and avoid potato deterioration and post-harvest losses destined for fresh consumption or processing, potatoes are stored in large facilities under controlled environmental conditions.

They are kept in well-equipped large storage facilities at temperatures ranging from 2 to 10 °C, in a dark and well-ventilated environment with high relative humidity (85 to 98%) – these conditions will prevent rot and speed up the wound healing process of the crop.

Storage design – bulk storage vs. box storage

The main factors like structure style, insulation, ventilation/humidification and options such as auxiliary heating or refrigeration will impact the tuber’s health and quality.

Bulk storage

By far the most popular storage design, the bulk piled storage system allows producers to hold product longer with the highest quality. Generally less expensive, bulk storage product is held on the ground with air floor slots or ducts, including holes that feed the air up and through the pile. Options include internal or external fan houses. Air control through the product comes from duct-opening hatches that manually open and close.

Box storage

Box storage is commonly used for seed and table stock. Although there may be differences, the boxes are typically 4’x4’x6’ and contain roughly 1500 lbs. of potatoes. The building is a steel structure, 26 ft in height, with 5 to 6 boxes on top of each other. Some facilities are built with full concrete walls, creating a long-lasting structure with a higher insulation value and better equipped for humidity control.

Box storage design feeds air through slots in the wall in and around the boxed product. Options include a cross vent and internal and external fan house. Letterbox design can also include cross ventilation or a consolidated fan house with a return air scoop. This way of storing potatoes minimizes the risk of contamination because it allows the removal of problematic boxes. Box storage involves much gentler crop-handling practices than those involved in bulk storage... Read More