Roasted shell corn?

[dairyman]

Does anyone here have any experience with roasted shell corn? Normally we pick it and store as ear corn but this year the wind has knocked down some of the crop so going to shell it. I do have a bin it can be stored in; just didn?t know if roasting it would be a better option than selling it at 20% moisture and buying dry bushels. I don?t have my own dryer so that?s not a option but will be having some soybeans roasted for my cows so roasting truck will be here anyway. Just wanting opinions good and bad.
Thanks ,
Dave

 

[JD Seller]

Roasted corn is a good product to feed but I would not dump it into a regular grain bin after it is roasted. The kernels are softer and will damage easy. Then they will bridge over your unload auger sump. If the corn is roasted correctly you can even put it on some type of flat storage and it will keep. I would not plan on storing it long term after roasting it. It can go out of condition easier than just dried corn.

 

[caterpillar guy]

Don't know about the roasting . You can with air on the corn keep it for quite a while at 20 % moisture while it is cold. Depending on how much you have and how fast you use it it might be less fuss to just store it like it is and feed from there. You could also bag it to keep. That would require a fermentation period then feeding could go through the year without spoilage if you keep feeding at a reasonable rate like a foot or two every few days. We used to keep ground ear corn that way for feed. Would grind it at about 20-28 moisture bag then feed all year till the next years feed was ready. Feed about a ton per week. 8 foot bag was supposed to be about a ton per foot. 150 foot bag was supposed to hold about equal to a 50 foot silo. Never compared since we didn't have a silo to compare to.

 

[formenwhogrow]

Roasted corn breaks down easier in the gut and makes for a better feed product since the super hard outer shell on the kernel is softer. My roaster guy charges around a buck a bushel so if your costs are similar, it will pay off. like JD said if you have away to store it to prevent damage go for it.

 

[dairyman]

Thanks for the information guys, I?ll be giving it a try. The roasting guy said it pencils out slightly cheaper per bushel than beans as they can roast more corn per hour and they charge by the hour.
Dave