Pellet Salt/Brine

I have posted in the past about having issues with our water softener and it over filling with water. Through all of the trials of switching out the brine float and ultimately a new softener head, I believe the problem is with the salt. I do believe the float was part of the problem. I'm finding that when I clean out the brine tank the salt in the bottom is the consistency of mashed potatoes. The opening technician adds salt to the brine as needed and is rotated throughout the tech staff. I was unaware until recently that our bags have a fair amount of fines. It resembles table salt. I recently had a new RO installed and mentioned this problem to the vendor. He noticed our salt bags and asked why we were using 25lb bags. He told me to check for salt powder in the bags. I put holes in the bottom of a 5-gallon bucket and dumped a salt bag in, shook it a few times and I could not believe the powdery salt that came out. Looking back, we switched from 40lb bags to 25lb bags not long before we started having any issues with the brine tank. For reference, we are using Diamond Crystal bright and soft (yellow bag). I am wondering if it has anything to do with the surface area of the 40 lb bag to the 25 lb bag, the way it is shipped and packed? Can anyone give me any insight to this? I hate to start using the 40lb bags again. It was hard for my shorter staff to lift the 40 lbs into the tank.