Hi from Australia, I'm a spud grower with storage like you guys.I hate to give you bad news but the amount of ice you are using just won't be enough. I know what you are trying to do, but truly you need to up the ice rate to at least 4 to 6 times the amount to at least get the spuds down to 8 or 10 D Celsius which is about 50 F. Don't worry you are not alone in the world of potato growing when things don't go your way.

@RockyMountainFarmer

17 күн бұрын

Well, I’m glad you’re here. It did lower the temperature about 3°F but it was mainly just to prove the concept. We will probably be putting more ice in this week.

Need couple reefer units to blow cool air into them

@RockyMountainFarmer

17 күн бұрын

That’s not a bad idea I might have to look into that

Props for posting this!!! Some People don't realize desperate times call for desperate measures. What do you do?!

@RockyMountainFarmer

17 күн бұрын

I tried to show the good bad and the ugly of farming. Glad you enjoyed it.

Never seen blocks of ice that small. When you said blocks of ice I remembered the 25 pound blocks we used to put in the refrigerator on our boat.

@RockyMountainFarmer

17 күн бұрын

These were the biggest ones we could get

You might want to do the math on cooling with Ice. An equal amount of ice versus potatoes will drop the temperature about half way between the hot versus cold. 100 tons of potatoes is going to take about 100 tons of ice.

Good luck guys, hope you can get that storage emptied soon. I was going to suggest a portable refrigeration, but i see some other have made the suggestion and where you said you did rent one.

I don’t know if I would have taken them out of the bags

Need the commercial sized block cuts.

if you're already running humidifiers why not try a port-a-cool, then you get cool and humidity. I tried ice blocks in water going through a radiator with a fan once, I'd go through a block in an hour or 2 with little to no affect on temperature but that was in a 800 sqft shop that was 80+ degrees.

What about spraying water on the top of the cellars. Evaporation will cool that space a lot faster than the few ice blocks. Ice blocks will work but you’d have to fill the cellar from Floor to ceiling

@RockyMountainFarmer

13 күн бұрын

Problem is there is 6 inches of insulation so spraying the outside of the cellar wouldn’t do much

When cattle guys raise spuds.

@RockyMountainFarmer

13 күн бұрын

We don’t have cows

@kinlika

10 күн бұрын

@@RockyMountainFarmer No cows.... You make 'Hay' ? You haul Manure... ?

There are portable refrigerated air units you can rent. Usually used on buildings loose their HVAC. Some come on a semi trailer with a generator, smaller units can use use on site power....you will need to do a internet search. Ice will not do much, expensive. These other units can be expensive. Depends on the value of crop and if the potato purchase people are willing to help with cost.

@RockyMountainFarmer

17 күн бұрын

We rented one, but we were not able to find any more available

@craigwyatt32

16 күн бұрын

@@RockyMountainFarmer what size unit are you looking for?

I’d be contacting IVI to get those storages refrigerated before next season!

@RockyMountainFarmer

17 күн бұрын

This is the first time ever that this has happened to us. The cellars that we do have refrigeraton we haven’t used it in 15 years

How is the water situation? Did you find a solution?

Nice save on the pivot electrics, also making hay while the sun shines :) Any feedback on the airless tires / wheels on the pivots since the last episode? Are they holding up with time regarding not digging deep furrows

@RockyMountainFarmer

18 күн бұрын

They are still doing awesome very little pivot tracks

@paulhammond7489

17 күн бұрын

@@RockyMountainFarmer Good to hear that :)

In the winter time before snow melts fill your walk ways with snow.you will be amazed how it works

@RockyMountainFarmer

17 күн бұрын

They keep cool great in the winter

Cooling yes. Also significantly increasing the humidity.

@RockyMountainFarmer

18 күн бұрын

If we turn our humidity off, it shouldn’t be any different than normal

❤❤😊😊Good video💛💛🌹🌹🌹✔️

@RockyMountainFarmer

18 күн бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it

You would have better results if you do not open the ice and stack it up

❤ from Norway

@RockyMountainFarmer

18 күн бұрын

Glad you’re here

Great work

@RockyMountainFarmer

15 күн бұрын

Glad you liked it

You're making a mistake open in the bags you need to keep the ice in the bags to keep the

Hope Idaho does not come take your solid water.

@RockyMountainFarmer

18 күн бұрын

Right

You should leave the ice in the bag and stack them up into a rectangular formation then you should wrap them in burlap then with foil-backed insulation!

@RobertHull

17 күн бұрын

What's the point of using ice if you insulate it? The ice needs to evaporate to cool the air.

What about a Swamp Cooler Fan that Uses Water and a Fan Drape?

@RockyMountainFarmer

18 күн бұрын

The cellar has that installed already but it needs more cooling

Would you mind sending that heat to Wisconsin kinda need it here rarely getting a 75 plus degree day here this year

@RockyMountainFarmer

17 күн бұрын

Wish I could

All that ice and no beer!! Hahaha

@RockyMountainFarmer

17 күн бұрын

Nope haha

Great video. How's the water situation?

@RockyMountainFarmer

18 күн бұрын

I’m glad you enjoyed the video. They postponed the water stuff until October but they still don’t have a solution.

So using the ice. Do you recirculate the air to keep the air cooler?

@RockyMountainFarmer

17 күн бұрын

Yes we do

The ice is going to melt too rapidly

@Chiedl

18 күн бұрын

How many times are you going to comment the same thing in a different way?

Man i thought i was dumb until i saw this idea

@RockyMountainFarmer

15 күн бұрын

Hey, it worked hit lower the temperature 3°

Your pissing in the wind. You'll never get the potato pulp temp back down with just a few bags of ice. You needed to start this LONG before now. As far as the storage that has the rot - you guy's really screwed up by not looking at the storage every couple days at least. You just cost yourselves a ton of money!

@RockyMountainFarmer

17 күн бұрын

It actually brought the temp down a few degrees. And we do check the cellars every couple days. But there wasn’t much we could do to cool them down without refrigeration.

If you have access to cold well water ,look into those 4 ft or higher fan forced radiant swamp coolers that use a flowing cold water coil in front of the large fans that the well water is pump thru the coils and it uses its water circulation thru the coils and air is blowed thru as it would work perfect placing those directional in you cellar airways,,you then can reuse them for many years to come and they are easy to move around and they are on roller wheels

@vfromid2186

18 күн бұрын

Absolutely agreed.

@RockyMountainFarmer

17 күн бұрын

There’s essentially a giant swamp cooler inside the cellar already

Dry ice may have been a better choice. Don't know about availability in your area.

@RockyMountainFarmer

17 күн бұрын

We couldn’t get much of that. It was actually hard to find block ice.

The amount of ice you put in there is equivalent to running a small window air conditioner for a few hours. That's not going to make any sort of dent in a full cellar.

@RockyMountainFarmer

17 күн бұрын

It dropped it about 3°. We were mainly seeing if it would do anything.

Big mistake taking the ice out of the bag you should leave it in the bag and stack it that way then wrap it in foil-backed insulation. Use the 4X sheep type insulation to make a little surrounding like a dog house!

@RobertHull

17 күн бұрын

What's the point of using ice if you insulate it? You need the ice to evaporate to cool the air.

@charlesperry6093

16 күн бұрын

@@RobertHull your wrong. If you were to shrink wrap all of that ice together in one big block on a pallet then the ice would melt much slower in the cooling would be much more effective when you run a fan over it.

@RobertHull

16 күн бұрын

@charlesperry6093 The way I understand it is, the ice will absorb the same amount of BTUs no matter how you stack or wrap it. The only thing that changes when you insulate the ice is the amount of time it takes to do it.

Was dry ice not an option. It lasts longer, than just normal water ice

@RockyMountainFarmer

17 күн бұрын

We couldn’t get enough

I assume you have only been running your fans at night.

@RockyMountainFarmer

18 күн бұрын

Yeah, pretty much

Thermoking off a beater reefer trailer? We did that once…..

@RockyMountainFarmer

17 күн бұрын

That’s a good idea

The only thing to save these sheds of potatoes is to move the potatoes... Preferably off the farm.. Sold.. Done and gone... Long term vegetable crop storage is a hugely complicated,complex, very expensive business... Using hugely complicated,complex, very expensive buildings with a 'Controlled environment'' That process starts with people who know what they are doing... No bags of ice are involved...

@RockyMountainFarmer

9 күн бұрын

Yeah, unfortunately there are no refrigeration units for rent around us, but we may have a solution in an upcoming video

Any updates on the state water rights issues?

@RockyMountainFarmer

18 күн бұрын

They postponed the issue till October so they’re going to let people water this year but they still don’t have a solution

@310Fire11

18 күн бұрын

@@RockyMountainFarmer Thanks. Maybe an update video in the near future would be appreciated. Farmers in Southern Alberta may also have the same fight over water rights in the future.

en alberta ca il lave les pomme de terre avec une machine (laveuse a pomme de terre ) !!!

@RockyMountainFarmer

18 күн бұрын

Yeah, we have one and I made a video on it. It will be coming out soon.

why not rent a commercial portable ac unit..

@RockyMountainFarmer

17 күн бұрын

There are none available

@seangivens2770

17 күн бұрын

@@RockyMountainFarmer shit tons of ice it is. sorry to hear . Kwikool 270,000 BTU 25 Ton something like this with a portable 3 phase generator might be worth the while if the over heating keeps happening and lose of potatoes.