To avoid suffering the fate of their improvident predecessors, they would invest massively in irrigation and grain storage.

UNESCO: MEDIA SERVICES

He branched out into grain storage, well-digging, and even owned a funeral home.

WSJ: Texas Flimflam Artist Dies at 88

Over the years, the Minneapolis company expanded from grain storage to a dizzying array of food and agricultural products and services.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The Plasek family started the company as Texas Grain Storage Inc. in 1957, according to a lawsuit the company filed in 2007.

WSJ: Fertilizer-Storage Risk Is Often Overlooked

In 1960, Texas Grain Storage added a small fertilizer blend plant for farmers in the area and started selling fertilizer and grain-storage services for other farmers in Texas, the company said in the court filing.

WSJ: Texas Fertilizer-Plant Blast Kills at Least 15, Injures Dozens

It was started by the Plasek family in 1957 as a grain-storage business.

WSJ: Fertilizer-Plant Blast Kills Five to 15 in Texas

The storage rooms near the grain silos have been gutted and left empty, circuit breakers ripped out of electrical boxes, leaving only a few dangling wires.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Despite bumper harvests in recent years, officials and experts warn that China's grain security still faces potential risks as over 35m metric tonnes of grain are wasted each year from poor storage and transportation, Global Times and China Daily report.

BBC: China media: Housing law anger

Parliament's approval for the bill would permit the release of huge quantities of grain from the government's overflowing storage sites at near giveaway prices and is expected to become a big vote-winner for the Congress party-led coalition government, which faces a general election in early 2014.

WSJ: India Cabinet Clears Food-Security Bill

Once the molds get a foothold, poor storage conditions also promote their post-harvest growth on grain.

FORBES: Bittman of the 'New York Times': Always Out To Lunch