Grain Drying and Rising Fuel Costs

Every farmer hopes to get record yields in all his crops because that will result in higher income. This year with rising fuel costs, the combination of record corn yields and drying charges will be a hard bill to swallow. If the unseasonably warm dry weather continues, Mother Nature will slowly dry the corn at no cost. Every point of moisture dry down in the field is fuel that you don't have to buy to do the same job. The reality is that the nice weather will come to an end. There are some things you can do to reduce the fuel needed to dry your crop. Not many of these changes are quick and dirty but require careful evaluation of your drying system.

Plant Shorter Season Corn

Shorter season crops tend to dry down more in the field than long season crops. What makes them unattractive to the producer is the fact short season crops tend to yield lower than long season crops. This option does not help this year but give it careful consideration for next year.

Delay Harvest

The longer the crop stays in the field the more it will dry down if warm dry conditions exist. Field drying slows down as wet cool weather arrives and field drying almost stops completely in freezing temperatures. The gamble you take by leaving crop standing in the field is that wind, rain and time will knock some of the corn down decreasing yield and making for a messy harvest.

Store at Higher Moisture

Livestock producers have found that corn at 18% M.C. will store, process and feed very well. The animals find the feed quite palatable and you reduce drying charges. The last few points of moisture are the toughest points to remove in a drier. By not drying corn down to 15.5% M.C. you save drying fuel.

Grain Cleaning

Harvested grain contains fines and other material that will take fuel to dry and interfere with airflow through the grain in storage. Removing fines before drying will improve the efficiency of your grain drier. Removing fines before storing your grain will result in better airflow when aerating your stored grain and less spoilage problems.

Avoid Over Drying

Drying corn below safe storage moisture levels, 15.5% M.C., costs you extra money and usually reduces the grain quality. Over Drying corn removes additional water resulting in more dry matter being sold since corn is sold on a weight basis. Calibrate your moisture tester annually to ensure accuracy. Moisture meters can and do go out of calibration.

In-Bin Cooling

Removing the corn hot out of a drier at 16.5 to 17% moisture content and cooling it in a bin is a management technique that reduces fuel use, increases drier throughput and maintains grain quality. Allowing hot corn to sit without air movement for as little as a half hour to as much as eight hours lets the corn sweat. The interior kernel moisture can migrate to the kernel surface where aeration can easily remove this moisture.

Drier Heat Recovery

Heat - cool driers and all-heat driers have sections of the discharge air that is hot and very dry. This hot dry air can do more work for us to help dry grain if it is recirculated back into the drying fan. Plywood or steel sheeting can be used to build ducting to redirect this air from the sides of the drier back to the drying fan. Heat recirculation will reduce fuel consumption by 25 to 30%. Most new driers have this heat saver as standard or optional equipment. Many existing driers can have a heat recovery system added with few modifications.

Maintain Equipment

A grain drying and storage system has many components such as driers, leg elevators, conveyors, aeration fans, unloading augers and electric motors that require attention from time to time. All gear boxes should be properly lubricated and adjusted to ensure smooth operation. Belts on conveyors should be sound without glazed spots and running true centred in full diameter pulleys. The bin wall should be completely caulked to the bin pad to eliminate air leakage from the air plenum. Auger flighting should be proper diameter in the auger tube to move the grain with minimal damage.

Service the drier burner to ensure trouble free operation. Drier screens should be free of reddog accumulation to minimize air flow resistance. Confirm the integrity and location of temperature sensors within the drier. Sensors that have shifted as a result of a mount failure will not give a true reading you might expect.

Check to see that unloading tubes are securely connected to the unloading baskets. Finding out the tube has come unhooked when unloading the bin will create undue delays and possible equipment damage.

| Top of Page |