Ok, Something I bite my tongue on while on other threads, but you folks won't crucify me for sharing... Mill dates are cool and really the only thing we can rely on in most cases, but they are what they are, the date the grains were milled. When I found out my co-op was using 4 year old shelled non-GMO corn in my feeds and two year old fish meal, I about lost it. There are recommended shelf life's for whole stored grains, based upon their storage environment, but the regs focus on mill date. Low oil grains such as oats, barley, corn, etc have an average shelf life of 1 year and then nutritional value starts to drop. Two years still acceptable, four years still worked but not optimal by any stretch. Whole roasted soy, six months, fish meal exposed to Oxygen two months. One can extend those shelf life issues by putting them in a dark cool place in air tight containers with Oxygen absorbers. I use food grade buckets lined with mylar bags and double the recommended Oxygen absorbers.
Henny, you gave me an Idea... I'm gonna reach out to my feed store and ask if they'd like to sell some rare breed birds in the spring...