$$ MAKING THE MOST OF MOISTURE $$
By: Calvin Boisjoli from GrainX who has worked with grain bin automation customers for over 20 years & Dave Wall, Lead Grain Management Advisor at Wall Grain Handling Systems.
7 Steps to Plan Moisture & Quality Control at Harvest
1. HARVEST SOONER – by combining some tough grain (12% canola, 17%-18% cereals) you not only get the jump on harvest, but you also capture grade and quality. Earlier harvested cereal grain can be 2-3 pounds per bushel heavier compared to harvest after rain or deteriorating in the field. With tough grain in the bin the farmer now has 16% grain to blend with 12% grain. Malt barley harvested early can bring $1-$2 per bushel more.
2. SAFE STORAGE TIME - in relation to #1 above, many producers leave grain in the field way too long, losing moisture, grade and bushel weight. Tougher grain will keep in a safe condition while fans are running selectively not continuously. The sooner the grain is harvested, the more time is available for running the fans with the right quality of air, preserving moisture and grade. Charts below represent both safe storage times for canola and wheat in addition to showing how running fan air will affect the grain under specific ambient temperature and humidity conditions. For example (canola chart below, between 2 and 3?), 11.5% canola is put in the bin at 20 degrees Celsius. This grain is in a safe storage condition for 40-80 days. As the temperature and/or moisture of the canola drops by running the fans in the correct conditions, the safe storage time increases.
3. TARGET RUN TIME - in the same example above, any time the fan is ran under 80% humidity with 11.5% moisture canola, at any temperature, that grain is drying in the bin. Conversely, any time the fan runs over 80% humidity, moisture is being added into the already tough canola. Earlier harvesting gives better weather opportunities for more warmer/drier air targeting correct fan run time to dry the grain. Fan automation will take the guesswork out of when to start and stop the fans. Run fans selectively when drying the grain but prevent over drying or rehydrating the grain by running fans all the time. Storage plans based on monitored grain conditions should be thought out because more moisture will be lost in step number 4.
4. DRY AERATION – Most big bins have high air flow, 2/10-1/3 CFM per bushel. With that airflow, holding 18%-19% cereals and/or 12%-13% canola is no problem. With monitoring such as GrainX Command you have peace of mind and can keep the combines rolling to maximize your moisture from the field. What happens when hot grain from the field is cooled (dry aeration) and tonnes of bushel weight is lost? Shrink. If you put canola in at 10% at harvest and ship out at 8% you have lost 600 bushels which equals over $9,000! For every 10C temperature drop approximately 0.5% in moisture is lost. This is even more pronounced with warmer temperatures (30C). Farmers can minimize this loss by running fans, when possible, at higher humidity and on cooler nights. GrainX Command fan automation can turn fans on during the right window of time. By knowing the safe storage time (see #2) farmers have time to wait for cooler, higher humidity days to run the fans. Dry aeration is the second most economical way to dry grain without adding huge capital cost and can also be used with a grain dryer, another design benefit for managing moisture. Talk to Wall Grain, call Dave Wall or the Grain Management Advisor in your area.
5. BLENDING – this is the lowest cost and lowest risk method of drying grain and capturing moisture. Tough grain harvested earlier that is not drying fast enough in the bin can be blended on the farm or “paper blended” where the farmer makes a deal with the terminal to bring in different dry percentages of grain. Heat can also be added to some bins if there is too much wet grain (see FAST DRY article). Coaching is available with GrainX Management Services on mixing dry and wet grain which can be done on the farm instead of paying penalties or delivery.
6. HYDRATION - in many areas of Western Canada, it can be impossible to take grain off at higher moistures. After all the hard work has been done to get the grain in the bin, selling grain well below moisture thresholds is a massive lost opportunity cost. Again, by using and understanding the charts described in steps 2 and 3, an automated system like GrainX Command will only run fans when the air is wetter than the grain, hydrating from the bottom up, adding moisture to grain in storage. See the chart below for real customer hydration data from last fall and this spring for producers who chose to add value to their grain.
Notes on the chart above: A rough estimate of electrical cost on a 25 hp fan is about $4 per hour. If we use the Swift Current Farm canola as an example, energy usage at this rate is $676. The hydration gain in canola bushels is 227 times $15 per bushel is $3,405 for a net gain of $2,729 in just one of the many bins at this site.
7. FAN AUTOMATION - GrainX Command Automated AI is a Patented Autonomous Grain Management platform with management services including coaching and implementation assistance for all the steps above. GrainX Management Advisors are engaged with Western Canadian producers adding value to 25 Million bushels under management in Western Canada in bin sizes from 5,000 to 300,000 bushels. GrainX Command is available from Wall Grain and can be added to bins with digital temperature/moisture cables and incorporated into existing BinSense Live infrastructure already in place.
A lot of farmers are doing a combination of these 7 strategies saving the cost of a grain dryer/handling system. Bigger bins are required with above average air flow and good monitoring via temperature and moisture cables as well as live monitoring such as GrainX Command with or without automation. One of Dave Wall’s customers, while on a webinar discussing dry aeration and looking at the safe storage charts, commented “That’s why you keep saying ‘start harvesting more aggressively’ because I have all the tools to manage the moisture!” ($$$)
