Corn Sample

[VicS]

Took a couple of loads of corn to the elevator yesterday. When I went in to pick up my last ticket the manager came out, and said. That was the best load of corn that he had ever bought(he is young). The test weight was 62.20 moisture 14.46 and no cracks in the sample. Pioneer corn. But we harvested it with a 1978 L2 Gleaner with a 6 row Gleaner head. Just had to brag on the old Gleaner. Vic

 

[jm42]

I used to have a gleaner f3, the owner of the local elevator would always come out to the pit when I was dumping to bag up corn for his corn stove. i asked him why he just didnt get it from the bins. His answer was I like how clean your corn always is from the Gleaner. Now I have a JD 9400 and for the life of me I cannot get that clean of sample, but it is still decent. Bragging every now and then is good for the soul or maybe that is ego.

 

[Anonymous-0]

If selling #2 corn and delivering something better than you are losing profit. I can set my combine so it delivers a great product but might not thresh it all and/or blows a lot out. Goal is to get the most grain and deliver a product that just meets #2 specifications. Better for me if there is a little trash and I still can met #2.

 

[jm42]

James, you are correct. that is why I dont push the 9400 to get it any cleaner than I have been. to clean can cost a lot of money. Good prospective!

 

[jwmfarms]

Years ago, I was helping a neighbor who was behind combing soybeans. We were working on different farms, about 10 miles apart. He came by one morning before the dew was off, to see how I was doing. I had just gotten back from the elevator, and was adjusting the seives. He asked if I was closing them because of foreign material. When I told him I was opening them because there wasn"t enough trash (I think the ticket said .4% FM) and I was giving away his beans. He looked at me real strange for a second, said he had never thought of it that way, and left to open his sieves a little.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I will always shoot for the cleanest, best sample I can put in the bin. Think it is a pride thing, may lose a lttle weight but I'm selling beans/corn not trash.

 

[VicS]

I"m not saying we never blew any out the back. But a L2 is as wide as a 9400. My son opens the top seive just short of getting a lot of cobs. Then adjusts the bottom one a little closer, then drives as fast as the return will let him. Just about 3 mph. That is faster than I can haul it to the bins with the auger wagon, if the corn is good. Also he ran the cylinder as slow as it will go. Vic

 

[fixerupper]

The cleaning fan airflow is directed differently between Gleaner and Deere so sieve and chaffer settings can't be compared. Jim

 

[NOS88]

We by no means run dirty samples, but my Dad has always said if they are not docking yet, it is probably alright. Alittle extra weight never hurt anyways! I am always wanting to get it a little cleaner myself. My opinoin it is better to get it all then see it grow before the frost!!

 

[NOS88]

We had a 4400 before our 9410. My Dad could set the 44 in his sleep! I admit we have struggled with the 9410 for bean samples, but we have made big improvments in the last three years in adjustments. It does have an appetite!!!

 

[NOS88]

Vic, I havent seen you on this forum before. You still need to make it into northcentral Indiana area this summer for some pulling sometime if you get a chance. Still would like to hear the 435 pull! (You have had a pretty good start to the year by the way!)

 

[NOS88]

Thats exactly right!

 

[ihman73]

We run a 1460 and 1660 Axial flow and as far as I am concerned they are the best for grain quality. We can get that clean sample for the most part and don't have to compromise on sieve loss. May get a few pods in tougher beans but I like my corn clean. Those cobs should come thru whole if the machine is set right no matter what kind of combine you are running. We had a pioneer number that had soft cobs some years back but we canned that one fast. I like clean grain, it stores better and if you are raising seed beans that will bump you up the list of beans they will take rather than turn away. I'm not a fan of poddy beans plugging up bin traps, fixing that kind of stuff is what gets people killed in bins.

 

[Mike Aylward]

You fellows with the 9400's can get one of the best samples you have ever had if you quit setting the combine like the book says. The recommended settings are pitiful. Your combine will "sterilize" grain if set properly. "By the book" is not it. My email is open if you have questions. Mike

 

[JMS/.MN]

Anybody who"s been here for any length of time knows I"m a Gleaner fan....but I also say any combine can do a decent job if set right. I was raised on a farm, but never got to adjust any harvester...Dad did that, I did the grunt work. Years later, starting on my own, my uncle told me that if the (oats,barley,wheat) grain sample is perfectly clean, you are wasting good grain. Makes sense after seeing the re-growth in the windrow behind the combine. Some more....some less. Key to a good operation is the operator, no matter the machine. Fixing them? yeah- big difference between machines!

 

[dkattau]

Think about this, what happens to all the chaff, dirt, pods, cobs, and other FM when you run the sample to the max of the specs. Who has to deal with that? The guys at the elevator eating the dust, or cleaning out the bottom of the pits and tubes filled with pods, cobs and mud? I was a grain miller, you wouldn't believe the difference a clean grain sample makes, or stress cracks from drying too fast, or all the crap that gets blended into a truck(they'll never know the difference, right). We do. We can tell who does a good job and who doesn't. And we're not shy about it.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Do you pay for a "cleaner" sample. Although I'm always better than the #2 spec, the elevator doesn't pay any more. When they ship grain overseas they add gravel to the ship's hold as foreign material so it just meets spec, since foreign material can be anything not toxic. Why should the farmer deliver a great sample and then the grain traders "buff up" their margins. If the local grain miller pays for superior samples that is OK and the farmer would deliver. If you want #1 and only pay for #2, then don't be surprised when most farmers choose the outlet that takes #2 and pays for #2.

 

[dkattau]

Yes, there is a premium for clean grain, just like at the elevator. That's why they dock you for moisture, FM, fines, etc. And just because the elevator loads hoppers or barges to the max of the specs, does that make it right? If everyone pushed the specs or even a little more, the grain merchants wouldn't have their fudge factor. The grain quality would drop and then the price. Guys that do this are not only screwing everyone that brings in a nice crop but also themselves. So much for doing your best and sticking together, huh?

 

[Jimbtx]

I don't know where this guy is from that pays a premium for clean grain, but here in Texas elevators have always broken it off in farmers every chance they get...they will pad their pockets in everyway because they know at harvest time the farmers only option is to go to the elevator...in 2010, with a bountiful wheat crop, they were all charging a $2 basis off market price and wouldn't even take grain that wasn't perfect...they wouldn't store grain except for themselves and when the price went up they cashed in at the farmers expense...it's always been that way at least for 50 years...so let's talk some more about those so called premiums that don't exist unless there is a grain shortage due to drought...

 

[Anonymous-0]

Hit that one dead on the bullseye. Delivered most of this years beans significantly below the required 13% (some 10.5%) Not paid an extra penny for this gift. But the elevator doesn't miss deducting drying charges for any load above 13% which doesn't cost them anything because they blend (my) dry beans with the wet beans. No averaging of your delivered loads, each load stands alone. Also they use shrinkage factors to their advantage, not withstanding the elevator already makes a handsome profit on the basis. Have difficulty even shedding crocodile tears for the typical grain elevator. No reason to be dishonest, but also unwilling to completely surrender and give them grain that is significantly better than spec without an equivalent premium. I doubt if any company in the the Fortune 500 would find fault with this business practice.

 

[Matt NWIN]

I had the same thing. I had an old "F" Gleaner that I could set with my eyes closed and get the most beautiful sample imaginable. Upgraded to a Deere 7700, did pretty good with that one too, then went to a Deere 9400, and I couldn't get a clean sample to save my a$$. But after a few years with it, I have gotten it to come close to the old Gleaner. Like Mike says, throw the book out, the settings it has recomended are WAY off...

 

[NOS88]

We are with James! Like I said we dont run dirty samples. Seen people ahead of us in line that they had to kick the pods in the pit. If they aint dockin its fair game. Elevators "doctor" stuff up all the time. We will continue to use the bottom of the wagon to hide the first round as many do! No premium here for the cleanest sample.

 

[1923 Gleaner]

(quoted from post at 15:18:23 02/10/12) I will always shoot for the cleanest, best sample I can put in the bin. Think it is a pride thing, may lose a lttle weight but I'm selling beans/corn not trash.

I'm just like you, do the best quality job you can. Seems in todays world people stive to do just enough to get by. I seen it when I used to work in an aircraft machine shop in the winters, Union guys striving to accomplish the minimum required. Come on guys have a little self pride and pride in your farm.

 

[NOS88]

We take alot of pride in the job we do. How much pride is there in the guys throwing it out the back and watching it grow just to get done first. Seen it many times. That doesnt pay very well. Best to get it all within reason and sell it in my opinion. Each to his own I guess.

 

[Anonymous-0]

If your machine is set right you can put out a clean sample and not throw it out the back. Biggest problem I see is drivers not operators. The machine doesn't behave the same at 7 in the morn or eve as it does at noon, but not many adjustments being made since we open it up for the trash so we can keep moving.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Yes some of our elevators pay premiums they have contracts with Japanese markets pay premium for special varieties, non GMO, and clean grain. For many years Gleaner and IH (not sure bout JD) had "clean" combines with all kinds of perforated panels.

 

[jm42]

Mike emailed me with some huge tips, I was making progress each year but with Mike's tips I think I will be able to take the process to a new level. This is exactly what I like about this forum, good people helping each other out.
Thanks again Mike.

 

[Tim(nj)]

Sounds like a good reason to put a bin up on the farm and sell when YOU want to . . . .

 

[Anonymous-0]

You should come see the union guys I work with. Of the 3 on my crew 2 young guys have put themselves into farming fairly seriously. How many people do you know going out and starting farming part time from scratch? These guys are Union Operators and some of the most talented guys I"ve ever worked with.