# can I stock up on "feedstore" oats and corn??



## critterluv (Jan 17, 2008)

Ok can I use the feed store oats and corn to stock up? I have not bought a grain mill yet but plan too so Im woundering If I stocked oats from the feed store what kind? my feed store only has steamed crimped oats and whole oats but I know they would order if I wanted something else? anyone else use feed store grains?


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## Janis Sauncy (Apr 11, 2006)

Are you talking for human consumption or animal? I wouldn't use feed store oats and corn for my family.

If you're talking about long-term storage for animals, as long as you're not trying to store any of the "sweet feeds" (with molasses), your shelf life will be pretty long. Anything with molasses will shorten the shelf life considerably.

Janis


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## Ohio Rusty (Jan 18, 2008)

Lets expound further on CritterLuv's question. Can you use feed store grains for animals to feed your family? Why or why not? Because it's dirty or it's chemically polluted?
Ohio Rusty ><>


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

It wouldn't hurt to ask if your feed store has some grains that could be eaten.
We just asked about dent corn. They were able to sell us some that was grown loccally by an Amish family. That saves their seed from year ro year.
Most survival books tell you to know where all the nearest feed silos are. Why would they want you to know that if they didn't want you to eat animal feed to get by.
We called one feed store and he told us that he would would not recomend eating his, but knew of several familys who did buy his wheat and ground it for the table.
There has been suggestions that the flour being put in the stores right now may be made of the lesser quality wheats, which would normally be animal feed, on the feed bags these are refered to as wheat middlings.


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## critterluv (Jan 17, 2008)

Yes I ment for human consumption. I have heard that you can eat it but I dont know what the difference between the different kinds of wheat, such as steamed crimped, or rolled. Any why could you not eat them?


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## YuccaFlatsRanch (May 3, 2004)

Feed oats still have the husks/hulls on the oat kernals. You will not be able to get them off. Avena Nuda or Naked (hull-less) oats are the secret here. The oat groats separate from the hulls the same as wheat does. I have them on order from Johnny's Selected Seeds. I just got in my order of Hull-Less barley from Bob's Red Mill.

I will flake some of the oats and Barley in my Marga Grain Roller and will plant some for a crop of oats and barley for next year.

We store popcorn in our food storage for grinding into corn meal. Get it fairly cheap at Sam's Club in 50 lb bags. We store it in gallon jars with a packette of silica jell and an oxygen absorber.


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## SquashNut (Sep 25, 2005)

You'll need to buy whole hulless varietys. There is a thread on here about making corn into masa dough or hominy on here that may help.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Get whole shelled corn from the feed store. Ask if you can smell it before you buy it. If not, get one bag and take it out to the vehicle and open it. If it smells fresh then it is ok. If it smells musty don't use it. When you get it home take a cup or so and put it in a dish with clean water. Let it sit a few minutes and then stir it to see if dirt and trash float to the top or muddy the water. If not, go ahead and store it. If it does have dirt or trash you can wash it before you store, but it must be dried immediately or you can wait and wash it just before using.

You can freeze it or put it in mylar bags in a bucket with O2 absorbers. If you freeze it you can store it short term in a tightly sealed heavy plastic bag in a bucket or tote or clean metal trash can.

You can grind it for meal, dry or you can soak in lye water for hominy and grind wet for masa harina.


On the oats. It is likely to still have hulls in it. Some does and some is pretty clean. I've seen it both ways. Don't get the whole oats because the hull is hard to get off. The steamed crimped ones would do better, but you will want to soak and wash them to try to get as much hull out as possible before cooking. Try some and see if it works for you before buying a lot. You can feed them to your animals if you don't like them.


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## farmergirl (Aug 2, 2005)

I have wondered about this very topic. The feed mill that mills our grain adds alot of molasses. The molasses is considerably cheaper than what I can buy, even in bulk, at the store. Anyone know about the possibility of eating the molasses that they pour into the feed? It's not a lick in a big tub, which I know would contain meds, etc, it's just pure molasses. I don't have the exact dollars and cents with me at the moment, but it is under $.50/ pound.


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## YuccaFlatsRanch (May 3, 2004)

Bulk molasses is so inexpensive at bulk food stores like Sun Harvest that I wouldn't bother with eating feed molasses. I would figure that feed molasses isn't filtered to the extent that human grade is.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

Stick your finger in it and see what it tastes like. The molasses I get is the 58# bucket (5gal) for $37.65 at Waltons. I do have to pay shipping on it tho.


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## PlowGirl (Nov 16, 2005)

farmergirl said:


> I have wondered about this very topic. The feed mill that mills our grain adds alot of molasses. The molasses is considerably cheaper than what I can buy, even in bulk, at the store. Anyone know about the possibility of eating the molasses that they pour into the feed? It's not a lick in a big tub, which I know would contain meds, etc, it's just pure molasses. I don't have the exact dollars and cents with me at the moment, but it is under $.50/ pound.


The molasses that the feed mills add to animal feed is NOT the same as blackstrap molasses meant for human consumption. It is cheap, but it's also very bitter, not sweet at all. It just looks and smells the same as blackstrap molasses.


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## RockyGlen (Jan 19, 2007)

The only way I would feed my children feed grains is if the alternative was hunger or if I got it direct from a farmer I knew and could trust. We are farmers and have been around feed co-ops and graineries and such for years and years.

Feed is usually treated. They spray the warehouses and storage areas to keep bugs out. I believe they use malathion - but dh is not up yet so I can't ask him right now.

Also, in some parts of the country, it is grown differently. For example, our wheat and corn - for human and animal consumption - is sprayed with pesticides before heads start forming. Dh sprays when rain is expected in 24 hours or so. He does not spray again, as within a week or so of that the grain heads start to form - the part that we eat. Grain grown for feed is often sprayed at least once more and often twice, after the grain heads form. Supposedly, this washes off with irrigation or rain, but it does touch the grain directly.

It's just a matter of choice, but if you decide to do ask where and how it was stored, if the storage area was fumigated and if so, with what chemical, and ask at what points was it sprayed with fertilizer and pesticide and what kind of each. Only the farmer will know that part.


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## Dwight Pruitt (Dec 23, 2020)

critterluv said:


> Ok can I use the feed store oats and corn to stock up? I have not bought a grain mill yet but plan too so Im woundering If I stocked oats from the feed store what kind? my feed store only has steamed crimped oats and whole oats but I know they would order if I wanted something else? anyone else use feed store grains?


I worked at a feed store 10 years ago , We understood that animal feeds were not cleaned , gleaned , and picked through as well as human grains . That's all .


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

The original poster hasn't been here in 3 years. I doubt they will see your message.


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## oregon woodsmok (Dec 19, 2010)

I'd have to be mighty broke to buy grain from the feed store for my people to eat. Good human quality grain is available in 25-50 pound bags from the bulk food store and it is darn cheap to buy. The oats already have the hulls removed and they are ready to cook and eat. The corn doesn't have mold or ergot. The wheat is cleaned, hulled, and ready to go into the grinder.

If everybody is literally starving because there is no food available anywhere, then, yes, grain from the feedstore would do, if it is the only option.

I certainly hope that no one here on this forum is ever that broke and desperate.


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## damoc (Jul 14, 2007)

oregon woodsmok said:


> I'd have to be mighty broke to buy grain from the feed store for my people to eat. Good human quality grain is available in 25-50 pound bags from the bulk food store and it is darn cheap to buy. The oats already have the hulls removed and they are ready to cook and eat. The corn doesn't have mold or ergot. The wheat is cleaned, hulled, and ready to go into the grinder.
> 
> If everybody is literally starving because there is no food available anywhere, then, yes, grain from the feedstore would do, if it is the only option.
> 
> I certainly hope that no one here on this forum is ever that broke and desperate.


This is a old post but still very relevant I have no problem with human consumption of feed store grains especially wheat barley and oats. Especially when they are very useable for animal feed and can be processed sprouted,malted,ground or planted to provide food for humans. The biggest problem I have is GMO corn that may not be healthy and may not be replantable sproutable or maltable. When I store corn it is organic popcorn.


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