Differences loom between drying and storing corn harvested at 18% moisture and corn combined at 27% moisture, says Steve Luther, who manages Stine Seed Farm near Adel, Iowa. Here are three tips for how to make drying and storing corn harvested at high moistures run smoother.
- Avoid “flash drying.” Luther uses this term for corn not dried as thoroughly as initially believed. “We’ll be running multiple combines and bringing in corn at 26% or 27% moisture, and we’ll have the heat [on the dryer] cranked up high,” Luther says. “This has led to times when we think the corn is dried to 16% moisture, and it might really be at 18% moisture. We make sure to check if corn is really dried because there have been cases where we’ve had to run it through again.”
- Install monitoring systems for storage bins. These can alert farmers of the development of hot spots that may lead to spoilage. “We have installed carbon dioxide detectors that move through corn and let us know if microbial activity [that may lead to spoilage] is happening,” says Robb Ewoldt, who farms near Davenport, Iowa.
- Buy propane wisely. Contract early to ensure a plentiful propane supply at harvest, Luther says. “Drying higher-moisture corn can take a lot of heat,” he adds.
Ewoldt buys propane in liquid propane bullet tanks of 9,000 gallons at a time. “We can buy LP that way for about a third of what it would cost when buying it from a [delivery] truck,” he says.