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Researcher discusses using bio-imaging to monitor grain quality
August 6, 2025
By Kaitlin Berger
Why monitor grain quality? Digvir Jayas, president and vice chancellor at the University of Lethbridge, presented several reasons during his presentation for Top Crop Manager’s virtual In the Bin: Grain Storage Seminar in early July. These reminders laid the foundation for the potential benefits of using bio-imaging technology to monitor grain more efficiently.
Monitoring grain quality can help improve logistics of shipping and the automation of grain cleaning and drying. The principle is that if the quality is known and does not meet the requirements for factors like foreign material, cleanliness or dryness, it’s easier to make adjustments.
Since the Canada Grain Act specifies zero tolerance for insects in grain, monitoring can also help ensure quality parameters around the detection and identification of insects in grain. “If you could detect the insects at the grain delivery time or before putting the grain into a larger bin and mixing with the other grain, […] then you might just [need] to do the fumigation of that small quantity of grain.” In other words, monitoring can save greater investment in the long run.
Typically, humans monitor grain quality. However, that means inspection can be subjective, inconsistent or expensive. Bio-imaging, an artificial visualization that uses a large spectrum to observe grain quality, can help take human error out of the equation.
As the technology becomes more affordable, Jayas expects the use of bio-imaging technology to increase. “It can be very easily implemented in the automation of the grain handling operations for binning and blending – and then ensuring a consistent quality for the importers of our grain.”
To hear Jayas’ full presentation, click here to access the on-demand seminar.