How far in advance will you buy grain?

[bph011]

How far in advance will you buy grain/let it sit? I have two horses at home and go through 5-6 bags of TC Senior per month. I buy 6 bags at a time, so about a months worth. 1-2 bags are opened and put into a metal trash can and the rest are left sealed/unopened until needed. Our feed store is running a promo/sale this weekend on all 50lb bags of grain and I was wondering how long people will let unopened bags of grain sit. I unfortunately don’t need grain right now (have 3 unopened bags) but did want to try and take advantage of the sale.

Also - I understand climate can play a role; I’m in the northeast and expect temperatures (highs) to stay in the 60s/70s for the next month, moving more towards the higher 70s/80s after a month.

[2DogsFarm]

You have to consider how long the unopened bags have been at the feedstore.
They probably don’t get daily shipments & even if they did, how long was the feed on the manufacturer’s shelves?

To answer your question:
I feed whole oats to my 2 - 16H TWH & 13H Hackney Pony - & a 50# bag lasts about 2 weeks - so 2 bags/month.
Bags get dumped into a 30gal galvanized container.
My feedstore mills their own grains, but I prefer buying every 2 weeks as their storage is better than mine.

For your purposes:
If you can supply dry off-the-ground (pallets?) storage for unopened bags you s/b fine taking advantage of the sale.
Do the TC Sr bags have a “Best Used By” stamp?

[Mango20]

I guess I usually buy a month’s worth, too. Check the fine print on your feed store’s sale to see if there is a limit to the number of bags you can buy at a discount (there usually is at mine). I think you’d be okay to buy another month’s worth with 3 unopened bags still in the barn.

[candyappy]

Depends on what you are feeding. Even oats kept in a clean, tight lidded plastic barrel will mold or get dusty if humidity is high and they are in it long enough. A month is usually my max for storing most any feed, especially pelleted, moist type feeds or when molasses is used. In the warmer weather it is a must that it not sit too long.

1 bag lasts me a couple weeks so I buy 1 bag at a time.

[Heinz_57]

I buy about a month’s worth at a time, which is conveniently the 3 bags that fit into one of my rubbermaid trash cans. I do that not because I worry it will go bad, I’m just too lazy and space is limited in my barn, and the bags only ever go on sale for $1 off or some such.

If you can store the extra bags at home in a somewhat controlled climate, away from pests and excessive heat, I would think you could probably get by for a month or maybe two, or possibly longer. It would greatly depend on how old the bags are - if they’ve already sat in the feed store’s warehouse for a month versus fresh off the truck this week, for example. I probably wouldn’t leave 6 bags of grain lying around the barn for a month, though…that’s just going to feed the mice and invite grain moths to ruin it.

[Zu_Zu]

I buy feed (oats) - and a low-starch product for horses and ponies

• my feed store will allow me to buy as many bags as I want - and then pick up
  what I need weekly - STAYS FRESH THIS WAY …

I also purchase cracked corn for the Turkey and Deer …

shavings and bedding pellets by the pallets

• discount - like three pallets of (50) bags each during a sale.

ALL PURCHASED WHEN ON SALE -
PICKED UP AS NEEDED

They keep a record (as do I) - cross off what is picked up …easy peasy !!!

I always buy on sale
I pick up my supplies weekly
I never run out
I always have fresh product .

*'this is probably as clear as mud but works for me …

During snow event weather I will stock two weeks but otherwise just one week of supply.

** should be noted I always have one extra bag in case I trip and bash my head and can’t get to the feed store for a few days.

[mmeqcenter]

I also buy about a month at a time, but I’m in Florida.
In Ohio I think a lot of the barns I boarded at had 2-3 months on hand at a time for most of the year, but I guess I never really paid attention to when they’d order since I was a boarder.
The suggestion to store it inside your house in a temperature/humidity controlled environment is a great idea.

[WNT]

With a high fat feed like TC Senior, I’d not go more than 6 weeks ahead, and only if you can store them somewhat climate controlled. I like what one barn I was at years ago did: they had a defunct chest freezer to store feed in. It was insulated, latched, and was very difficult for critters to get in to.

A dry grain or pellet, or minimally processed grain you can push out up to three months (from manufacture) but I would keep it much shorter with a high fat feed. A couple of really hot humid days could potentially make your savings now moot.

[luvmyhackney]

@Zu Zu

I buy feed (oats) - and a low-starch product for horses and ponies

• my feed store will allow me to buy as many bags as I want - and then pick up
  what I need weekly - STAYS FRESH THIS WAY …

I also purchase cracked corn for the Turkey and Deer …

shavings and bedding pellets by the pallets

• discount - like three pallets of (50) bags each during a sale.

ALL PURCHASED WHEN ON SALE -
PICKED UP AS NEEDED

They keep a record (as do I) - cross off what is picked up …easy peasy !!!

I always buy on sale
I pick up my supplies weekly
I never run out
I always have fresh product .

*'this is probably as clear as mud but works for me …

During snow event weather I will stock two weeks but otherwise just one week of supply.

** should be noted I always have one extra bag in case I trip and bash my head and can’t get to the feed store for a few days.

That’s what my feed store would let me do! Loved it and it worked out great.

[moving_to_dc]

I feed TC Senior and live in a fairly warm/humid climate in southern Maryland. I store all my Sr in a climate controlled environment, because I worry the moisture content and molasses in the feed will make it more susceptible to spoiling. The feed store where I purchase my Sr stores it in a large insulated metal building, that is NOT climate controlled, but it does stay cool in there, with good airflow thru the multiple huge roll-up doors.

In order to get a good discount on my goat’s show feed, I have to buy a pallet at a time (40 bags - and it is still $20 bag!). That will last me 3 months - it is a very dry pelleted feed - and I STILL have problems with the last few bags going rancid. It has kinda scared me away from stockpiling “moist” feeds containing molasses.

[bph011]

Thank you for all of the input! Fortunately rodents are a non-issue based on where/how the grain is stored, so the biggest concern is temperature. Sounds like I’ll get at least a few bags, but no more than a month (they are $4 off per bag, so pretty nice savings!) I can always store them in my house or garage where it is climate controlled as well.

[Simkie]

Right now I’m buying about a month at a time, because that’s what I have room to store.

But when Nutrena launched their new SafeChoice line…oh, three-four years ago?..I bought about 6 months worth of grain, because the buy one get one coupons were unlimited. Had no problems at all storing that in the barn, on pallets, in Colorado.

[Trails]

I spoke with a couple of the feed dealers and they both said that bagged dry feed (like pellets) will last 6 months in storage as long as they are stored in sealed containers (like old freezers) and kept dry. It is the dampness that causes them to go rancid. I was shocked as I would never have thought this. Personally, I wouldn’t purchase any longer than a month’s worth.

[fordtraktor]

I always buy a month at a time-ish in summer, but I’ll happily buy enough for a few months during the winter – it is cold here too and I don’t worry about spoilage. In the summer, things can go off pretty fast.

[Montanas_Girl]

I buy about a month’s worth of feed at a time. The product I’m purchasing (now Seminole Dynasport and previously Triple Crown Senior) is high fat, so I don’t want to keep it around/open any longer than that. I do currently keep the open bags/Rubbermaid containers inside my house.