Flaman Rentals Blog

The Hidden Benefits of OPI

Posted by Mark Flaman Jul 10, 2013

    With moisture accuracy within one tenth of a percent and temperature down to one Fahrenheit, OPI Temperature and Moisture monitoring systems have become the industry standard in grain monitoring over the past quarter-century. Most of us are aware about the savings and efficiency of the system, but there are a ton of other features that are often not mentioned.

    For instance, you're travelling down south during the winter months and you haven't got a clue what's happening back at the homestead. All of the sudden, you get an alarm on your cell phone that tells you grain is being drained from one of your bins. If you haven't scheduled a truck to pick any of it up, chances are there is a theft underway. Now all you've got to do is call a brother or a cousin to go check things out. For most people, this is a fantasy but it has recently become a reality with the Integris system by OPI. It monitors the levels of grain in your bins, and can be set up to send you a text message or e-mail when grain is being drawn, if grain is overheating or if it's getting too wet or dry.

    The system can also handle the automatic drying of grain if it's hooked up to a fan control that the system supplies. Basically, you tell the software what type of grain is in which bin, what temperature and moisture levels you want the grain at, and the system will automatically kick the fan on at certain times to ensure that your commodity is emptied in your ideal condition. An example would be the drying / rehydrating of soybeans. We've seen cases where a customer will fill a bin of soybeans with a moisture content of between ten and nineteen percent, and will end up with a final moisture content of between thirteen and fourteen percent, thus securing their premium.

    The system can also be outfitted with a mobile weather station that measures different aspects of the outdoor ambient weather, and calculates when the optimal time to heat or dry grain would be. In any case, you're looking for the most effective way to monitor all aspects of your grain, not just the temperature. We have a team of experts and installers on staff to get you outfitted with the best setup for your bin yard. CLICK HERE for more information and specs on all of the grain monitoring equipment we sell.