Count grain sacks in a store from a photo

Counting rice, wheat and maize sacks in a grain store

Mills, traders and storage operators count grain sacks at intake, at dispatch and for stored-crop records, and the figure is usually checked against the weighbridge ticket and the delivery note. Store stacks are built to a regular plan, a fixed number of bags per layer and a set number of layers, which makes a careful face count worthwhile. Photograph the long face of each stack square-on, from a point opposite its middle.

Woven polypropylene bags carry brand prints and lot stencils that repeat on every bag; if those prints pick up dots, mark one whole bag as an example. Grain dust settles on the upper layers and lowers contrast. Stacks under fumigation covers or tarpaulins cannot be counted from a photo until they are uncovered. Because the rows behind the face stay hidden, a face count multiplied by stack depth is an estimate; walk the stack to confirm it is equally deep everywhere.

Label each tally row with the stack number and commodity and keep the CSV with the store register. Building bags have their own cement bag counter, produce in mesh nets is handled by the onion sack page, and hand-tied harvest bundles before threshing are covered on the crop bundle counter.