Short answer. Yes, unless your contract forbids it. Article 1976 lets a depositary commingle grain or other articles of the same kind and quality. Once mixed, you no longer own specific sacks; instead every depositor owns a proportionate interest in the common mass, sized to what each put in.

What the law says

Unless there is a stipulation to the contrary, the depositary may commingle grain or other articles of the same kind and quality

Civil Code, Article 1976 — Commingling of Fungibles. Read the full provision →

What the law says

the various depositors shall own or have a proportionate interest in the mass

Civil Code, Article 1976 — Commingling of Fungibles. Read the full provision →

Commingling is allowed by default

Storing grain, sugar or oil in a common silo is ordinary commercial practice, and Article 1976 permits it as the default rule: Unless there is a stipulation to the contrary, the depositary may commingle grain or other articles of the same kind and quality. No special permission is needed. The reason is practical — fungible goods are interchangeable by nature, and demanding that each depositor's sacks be kept physically separate would make bulk storage impossible for no real benefit, since one sack of the same grade is as good as another. The default only reverses if your contract says the goods must be kept apart.

What you own changes from a thing to a share

What changes is the nature of what you own. Before commingling you owned identifiable property — these sacks, this lot. After it, your grain is physically indistinguishable from everyone else's, so the law converts your ownership into a share. The article provides that the various depositors shall own or have a proportionate interest in the mass. You become a co-owner of the whole heap in the proportion your deposit bears to it. You cannot point to particular grains as yours, but you can claim your measured quantity out of the common mass, and your right is a real ownership interest in it, not merely a claim against the warehouse.

Same kind and quality, and the right to opt out

The permission is confined to articles of the same kind and quality. A depositary may not blend your first-grade rice into a mass of inferior grain and hand you back a proportionate share of the poorer mixture; that is not the same commodity you left and falls outside the article. Grade, type and condition have to match. The other limit is your own contract. Because the rule applies only unless there is a stipulation to the contrary, you can require separate storage by agreeing it in writing at the outset — worth doing where quality varies or where you may need to reclaim the exact goods rather than an equivalent quantity.

What happens if the mass falls short

The arrangement matters most when the mass is short — spoilage, shrinkage or a loss that hits the whole silo. Because each depositor owns a proportionate interest rather than specific goods, a shortfall in the common mass is ordinarily borne in the same proportion; no one depositor is first in line to be made whole, and no one absorbs the entire loss alone while others are paid in full. So the figures to keep are the ones that fix your share: the quantity and grade you deposited, the receipt recording it, and the date. Those decide how much of whatever remains is yours.

Related provisions

Note. Statute text quoted on this page is reproduced from the official enactment and is linked to the full provision. The explanation around it is general legal information from Vivas & Nobles Law Office, not legal advice. Whether it applies to your situation depends on facts only a lawyer reviewing them can assess.