Harvesting corn at a moisture between 24% and 27% bagged the most bushels in 2023 and 2024 trials at Precision Farming’s Precision Technology Institute in Pontiac, Ill. Net income, however, is another story.
“It depends on if you are drying corn yourself [on the farm] or taking it to the elevator for drying,” says Jason Webster, Precision Farming lead commercial agronomist.
What the numbers say
The 2023 trial examined four hybrids harvested at moisture levels of 18%, 20%, 24% and 27%.
Corn combined at 27% moisture yielded the most at 254.3 bushels per acre. It also had the highest net return of $1,304 per acre, but only when dried on-farm with PTI’s drying system. When dried commercially, 24%-moisture corn yielding 252 bushels per acre was the most profitable, with a $1,272-per-acre net return.
A similar yield and moisture pattern emerged in 2024. An average of five corn hybrids harvested at 26% moisture yielded 269.3 bushels per acre. This topped yields of corn harvested at 24.3%, 19% and 14.2% moisture.
This time, though, there was a wider gap between commercial and on-farm drying for net returns. When commercially dried, corn harvested at 14.2% moisture had the highest net return of $1,044.28 per acre. Commercial drying was accompanied by a 1.4% shrink factor in a final drydown to 14% moisture. (To avoid paying for the unwanted weight of water in corn greater than 15% moisture — called “wet” — grain buyers will mathematically "shrink" the weight of "wet" grain to the equivalent weight of "dry" grain.)
Net return flipped with PTI’s on-farm drying system. Corn harvested at 26% moisture was the most profitable, tallying $1078.82 per acre. On-farm drying also helped net returns by decreasing shrink to 1.2% for a final 15% storage moisture, Webster says.
On-farm drying makes it easier for corn harvested at 24% to 27% moisture pay, he adds.
“The reason why folks have not been harvesting at these higher moistures is it costs them [in commercial drying costs],” Webster says.