science

Grain crimping

Grain crimping is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Grain crimping rather than just read about it. In short: Grain crimping or moist grain crimping is an agricultural technology, an organic way to preserve feed grain into livestock fodder by fermentation. Crimped grain brings health benefits to the animals and economic benefits such as cost savings and increased meat or milk production to the farmer.

Key takeaways

Grain crimping belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Grain crimping to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Grain crimping from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Grain crimping or moist grain crimping is an agricultural technology, an organic way to preserve feed grain into livestock fodder by fermentation. Crimped grain brings health benefits to the animals and economic benefits such as cost savings and increased meat or milk production to the farmer.

History Crimping was developed in Finland in the late 1960s by two farmer brothers, Aimo and Gunnar Korte, based on findings of British researchers as early as 1918. The brothers made the first crimper machine for home farm use. As knowledge of the device became widespread, they established a company to manufacture and sell the machines. British researchers had established that grain attains its peak nutritional value when the moisture content is between 35% and 45%. It took about 50 years before this knowledge was successfully utilized to process and preserve grain when moist.

Description Traditionally grain is only harvested when it is dry enough to be ground by a hammer mill. Moist grain cannot be ground or stored without machine drying and using preservatives, which increases cost. In crimping, the grain is combined moist and run through the crimper machine, which will break and flatten the grains. Additives, such as preservatives or molasses and water (if necessary) can be added to ensure the protection of nutrients. Crimped grain is stored in storage silos as a silage. Crimped grain is dustless, thus convenient to handle, does not require further processing, and is often preferred by animals over drier and dustier feeds. Practical experiments by farming and livestock research institutions in Finland, Sweden, UK and elsewhere have confirmed that crimped feed has higher nutritional value, it increases the animals' growth and milk production, improves milk quality and the animals' health and helps cut costs. An important point is that crimping home-grown grain and processing the feed on the spot at the farm, enables feed ingredients to be controlled and fully traceable. This helps in prevention of diseases, such as BSE.

See also Animal husbandry Dairy farming Harvest

References Pohjanheimo & Ettala (1971). "Tuoreena säilötty ohra lypsylehmien rehuna" (in Finnish; 'Freshly ensilaged barley as feed for dairy cows'), MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Animal Production Research, Koetoiminta ja Käytäntö Bulletin No.5: p. 17-20. Rissanen & Ettala (1977). "Säilöviljan käyttö rehuna" (in Finnish;'Using silage stored grain as livestock feed'), MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Animal Production Research, Koetoiminta ja Käytäntö Bulletin 29 Nov 1977: p. 41-44. Virtanen (1982). "Viljan murskesäilöntä" (in Finnish;'Crimping feed grains'), MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Animal Production Research, Koetoiminta ja Käytäntö Bulletin 24 Aug 1982, p. 42. Siljander et al. (2000). "Effective on-farm use of grain" (English abstract, article in Finnish), Article in MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Animal Production Research publication, series A, No. 79, 2002. Salo R (editor), p. 68-75. Jaakkola et al. (2001). "Murskeviljan käyttö lypsylehmien ruokinnassa" (in Finnish;'Using crimped grain in feeding dairy cows'), MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Animal Production Research. Palva, R (2002). "Rehuviljan murskesäilöntä – työmenekki ja kustannukset" (in Finnish;'Crimping and ensiling feed grain - labour and costs'), TTS Work Efficiency Institute, Bulletin No 543/2002. Jaakkola (editor) (2003). "Murskesäilönnän vaikutus rehuviljan satoon, tappioihin ja tuotantovaikutukseen lypsylehmien ruokinnassa" (in Finnish;'The effect of crimping on the grain yield, on losses and on production input in feeding dairy cows'), MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Animal Production Research, 41 p. Venäläinen et al. (2005). "Broilereillekin maistuu murskesäilötty ohra" (in Finnish;'Feeding chickens with crimped grain'), MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Animal Production Research, Koetoiminta ja Käytäntö Bulletin No.3(17 Oct 2005), p. 15. Jaakkola (2005). "Herneen murskesäilöntä ja käyttö märehtijöiden ruokinnassa: tutkimusyhteistyöhanke v. 2002-2004" (in Finnish;'Crimping peas for feeding bovines: a joint research project 2002/2004'), MTT Agrifood Research Finland, Animal Production Research; Kemira Plc, Aimo Kortteen Konepaja Oy, 29 p. Jaakkola (2005). "Tuoresäilötyn viljan ruokinnallinen arvo naudoilla" (in Finnish;'The nutritional value of freshly crimped grain on bovines'), Article in ProAgria Association of Rural Advisory Centres' publication 2005, Series: Tieto tuottamaan, no. 108, p. 59-61. ISBN 951-808-123-9 Jaakkola et al. (2005). "Ensiled high moisture barley or dry barley in the grass silage-based diet of dairy cows" Edited by: R.S. Park, M.D. Stronge. Silage production and utilisation : proceedings of the XIVth international silage conference, a satellite workshop of the XXth international grassland congress, July 2005, Belfast, Northern Ireland. Wageningen Academic Publishers. p. 184. Jaakkola et al. (2006). "Murskesäilötyn herne-kauraseoksen säilöntälaatu" (in Finnish;'Silage quality of crimped mixture of peas and oats'), The Scientific Agricultural Society of Finland, Bulletin No.21, p. 7. Siljander-Rasi (2007). "Rehuarvo sama kuin kuivatun viljan: tuoresäilöttyä viljaa sioille" (in Finnish;'Feed value equal to dried grain: crimped grain for pigs'), Sika Bulletin No.37, 3: 38-39.

External links Aimo Kortteen Konepaja Oy the pioneering company that introduced the method and has been developing the necessary machines A UK company's guide to crimping at Kelvincave.com

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Grain crimping

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Grain crimping claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Grain crimping before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Grain crimping ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Grain crimping

In research: Grain crimping appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Grain crimping in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Grain crimping is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Dairy farming technology, Grain production, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Grain crimping outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Grain crimping in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Grain crimping means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Grain crimping out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Grain crimping in simple terms?

Why does Grain crimping matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Grain crimping?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Grain crimping.