Corn drying

[Charlie M]

Corn harvest around here is coming to an end and it got me thinking about when I worked in a feed mill in the early 70's taking in corn from area farmers. We started the corn drier around mid October and it never stopped until almost Christmas. I'm wondering what farmers do today to store corn. Is it still dried with grain driers or are there are other ways to store grain at a higher moisture level. I see the big grain bins around but not driers - maybe somewhere in the back of the operation? We used to dry corn down at 12% for large bin storage. Took a long time to dry down in October, dried pretty fast in December.

 

[E.B. Haymakin']

Corn harvest around here is coming to an end and it got me thinking about when I worked in a feed mill in the early 70's taking in corn from area farmers. We started the corn drier around mid October and it never stopped until almost Christmas. I'm wondering what farmers do today to store corn. Is it still dried with grain driers or are there are other ways to store grain at a higher moisture level. I see the big grain bins around but not driers - maybe somewhere in the back of the operation? We used to dry corn down at 12% for large bin storage. Took a long time to dry down in October, dried pretty fast in December.

Here in south Alabama corn disappeared almost for decades or went from being common to uncommon at least. Here about five years ago farms that hadn't cropped corn started back again, didn't notice the big dryers though. It looks like the drying systems they are now using are much smaller, and inline from delivery trailer to the storage bin. Always to busy to stop and ask.

 

[Gambles]

When I was a kid, a lot of farmers grew milo and it had a hard time getting down to the correct moisture, even if it froze every night. Thanks to better genetics, corn dries down without the use of a dryer, at least in my area. If it is still too wet, it’s just left standing in the field until it goes dry down on its own.

 

[Gambles]

When I was a kid, a lot of farmers grew milo and it had a hard time getting down to the correct moisture, even if it froze every night. Thanks to better genetics, corn dries down without the use of a dryer, at least in my area. If it is still too wet, it’s just left standing in the field until it goes dry down on its own.

 

[Farmall m farmer]

all the guys around us have driers we would have one if we had the money I would say most people have a drier you just don’t see it

 

[billonthefarm]

Corn harvest around here is coming to an end and it got me thinking about when I worked in a feed mill in the early 70's taking in corn from area farmers. We started the corn drier around mid October and it never stopped until almost Christmas. I'm wondering what farmers do today to store corn. Is it still dried with grain driers or are there are other ways to store grain at a higher moisture level. I see the big grain bins around but not driers - maybe somewhere in the back of the operation? We used to dry corn down at 12% for large bin storage. Took a long time to dry down in October, dried pretty fast in December.

One of the biggest changes in growing corn is the varieties have been developed that very quickly dry down. The early planting coupled with fast dry down has greatly lessened the need to dry corn. Most people have some capacity to dry but many, if not most bushels dry in the field.

 

[leroy in ne]

Also add in drying in bin with air flow. Perforated floor and fans to lower grain a few points of moisture. Also used to adjust grain temperature to avoid sweating, as I understand the process. I live 2 blocks from grain storage with several hundred thousand bushel capacity and enjoy the fan noise and dust of this type facility

 

[Charlie M]

Funny you mention the noise and dust - the drier I mentioned at the mill where I worked was about 200 ft from the next door neighbor's house. It got interesting some times.

 

[leroy in ne]

Funny you mention the noise and dust - the drier I mentioned at the mill where I worked was about 200 ft from the next door neighbor's house. It got interesting some times.

Not complaining, old enough to have spent many hours on tractor with 2 row cultivator. Power steering by armstrong. Worked in grain elevator while in high school Saturday's and summer for 2 years.

 

[Princeton Bill]

The bins being built today have the capability to dry in the bin . Burners are placed in the fan and the heat goes into the grain through the perforated floor mentioned above. When driving by, you can tell if the bins have the heaters by looking for an LP tank since that is the fuel used unless they are close to a natural gas line.

 

[J Wendt]

I work all fall on grain driers, we sell them in sizes from 2000 bushels a day to more than 2000 bushels an hour. There are many styles and shapes. Almost all corn in the upper midwest goes through one taking anywhere from 10 points to 2 points depending on the year, planting date, weather' variety. Most years we work on keeping driers going until Thanksgiving or after. This year was very unusual I haven't worked all month but I am part time now. The corn was dry and the fall was dry and warm. Didn't even have to put the bibs and heavy coat on to keep from freezing while working on them this year. We cover most of SE MN and W Wi.

 

[WI Dan]

I work all fall on grain driers, we sell them in sizes from 2000 bushels a day to more than 2000 bushels an hour. There are many styles and shapes. Almost all corn in the upper midwest goes through one taking anywhere from 10 points to 2 points depending on the year, planting date, weather' variety. Most years we work on keeping driers going until Thanksgiving or after. This year was very unusual I haven't worked all month but I am part time now. The corn was dry and the fall was dry and warm. Didn't even have to put the bibs and heavy coat on to keep from freezing while working on them this year. We cover most of SE MN and W Wi.

I've always been interested in servicing grain systems. How long have you been doing it? Is it full-time job? Do you have to go to school for it? Did you start learning by installing bins?

 

[J Wendt]

I started as one of my later careers in 2002 at 60. I am an electrician, I have been farming forever, had our own dryers for as long. Started kinda at the bottom and worked up. We go to service schools but mostly learn by doing and lots of calls between us service techs. Retired 10 years later, now just go back in the fall, when we are swamped. Start by doing preseasons and then right into service calls. I don't do much of the bull work anymore leave that to the millwrights. Try to stay relatively close to the ground. You have to be familiar with electrical, gas and mechanical systems. We get up north of Turtle Lake and east of EauClare.

 

[Jaden]

I used to do a lot of work on dryers, especially using my electrical and controls abilities, but of course my farm mechanical background was always helpful. The dealer that I contracted with and I also made some add-ons and retrofits, mostly on Farm Fans dryers. I still do a little each fall from old customers in the Nebraska areas, and am always glad to answer questions.

 

[J Wendt]

Farm fans our nemesis, not our brand. I get stuck fixing most of them, I very much dislike them. I know they are a good dryer but it's like a Ford mechanic working on a VW, both do the same thing only differently with no manuals or wiring diagrams.

 

[Jaden]

J;
If you go to the GSI website, you can download any Farm Fans manual, which include schematics, wiring diagrams, etc. I also have prints. Let me know if you need any info.

 

[WI Dan]

I started as one of my later careers in 2002 at 60. I am an electrician, I have been farming forever, had our own dryers for as long. Started kinda at the bottom and worked up. We go to service schools but mostly learn by doing and lots of calls between us service techs. Retired 10 years later, now just go back in the fall, when we are swamped. Start by doing preseasons and then right into service calls. I don't do much of the bull work anymore leave that to the millwrights. Try to stay relatively close to the ground. You have to be familiar with electrical, gas and mechanical systems. We get up north of Turtle Lake and east of EauClare.

Thanks for your perspective.

 

[WI Dan]

I used to do a lot of work on dryers, especially using my electrical and controls abilities, but of course my farm mechanical background was always helpful. The dealer that I contracted with and I also made some add-ons and retrofits, mostly on Farm Fans dryers. I still do a little each fall from old customers in the Nebraska areas, and am always glad to answer questions.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[paul]

Corn harvest around here is coming to an end and it got me thinking about when I worked in a feed mill in the early 70's taking in corn from area farmers. We started the corn drier around mid October and it never stopped until almost Christmas. I'm wondering what farmers do today to store corn. Is it still dried with grain driers or are there are other ways to store grain at a higher moisture level. I see the big grain bins around but not driers - maybe somewhere in the back of the operation? We used to dry corn down at 12% for large bin storage. Took a long time to dry down in October, dried pretty fast in December.

The past decade or so corn dries down a lot better than it used to. Common the harvest 13-18% corn here now.

When I was a kid it was rare to get corn under 20% moisture.

In a crib ear corn you can store 24-28% moisture. Higher if you know what you are doing and set up right, we did 33% corn one bad year it never dried down,

To sell corn the elevators around here wan 15% moisture. To store corn at the same elevators they want it at. 14-14.5% moisture.

Some ethanol plants and feed mills will take it at 16% moisture without a penalty.

For your question, corn is often drier at harvest now than it was a decade or two ago. So it spends less time in the drier. Most folk have a drier setup. There are all kinds, from in bin stir rators, to top dry, to just fans to a low heat setup with fans, to the common old batch driers to the more modern high capacity continuous flow tower driers. But it’s pretty much all the same idea - blow air through the corn to remove moisture. Some without heat some with a little heat some with a lot of heat. Can take weeks or months with no heat, to a tower drier spitting out 3000-8000 bu of dry corn every hour.

Paul