Corn drying?

tomstractorsandtoys · Sep 25, 2021

I had about 2 acres of corn where a new power line is going. It tested 22% moisture. I shelled it today (about 400 bu) and put it in a 21
ft. diameter bin with a drying floor and fan. Bin has a spreader so right now I have about 1 1/2-2 ft of corn in the bin. If I do not add
any more corn and run the fan the next 3 weeks will the corn dry down to a safe to store moisture? Next weeks forecast is nice weather
with temps in the upper 70's. I also plan to walk around on the corn every two or three days to move it and make sure no crust forms.
They offered to pay for it and mow it off but I hate to see the waste. I did mow the stalks and should get a few round bales of nice
fodder next week. Tom

Jaden · Sep 25, 2021

Here is a chart showing the potential drying capabilities of air at various temperatures and humidity levels. I think your corn should dry down OK.

coonie minnie · Sep 25, 2021

Tom, run the fan day and night. Monitor closely. The weather will likely be in your favor it seems. The bigger the fan, the better this will work.

22 percent is high for what you are trying to do with a standard bin, but shallow depth, warm dry weather, and good monitoring will keep things in your favor. If you get it close to storable moisture and want to keep it long term, it might be smart to unload it, and reload it. Moving it will help keep mold from starting.

crsutton81 · Sep 25, 2021

You should be fine as long as you have some drying weather and occasionally stir it up to help keep from crusting. We unknowingly put 600 bu of 24 percent in with 17 percent corn in a 5600 bu bin once and didn't have any problems. It only had the fan run on it.

ss55 · Sep 25, 2021

If you have livestock, fresh corn dried with natural air or low temperatures makes very nice feed, hogs and feeder cattle love it. Back in the 1960's dad would dry 1000 bushels every two days in a similar setup running a 10 HP fan no heat during the day and 10F degree of heat rise at night in warm dry weather. They would alternate picking at dad's place one day and my uncle's place the next day so the two drying bins could keep up with the two row mounted picker sheller.

Geo-TH,In · Sep 26, 2021

SS55,
When I was about 5, my dad bought in 1954 or 55 a JD 45 2 row combine. Back then a combine was called a self propelled picker sheller.

caterpillar guy · Sep 26, 2021

Jaden your chart is nice except what is the time frame for that to dry down in. It looked like I could dry corn at 55-70 degrees with a 50-60 % humidity. But how long? Days could be possible. Weeks not a chance here.

showcrop · Sep 26, 2021

(quoted from post at 17:43:04 09/25/21) Tom, run the fan day and night. Monitor closely. The weather will likely be in your favor it seems. The bigger the fan, the better this will work.

22 percent is high for what you are trying to do with a standard bin, but shallow depth, warm dry weather, and good monitoring will keep things in your favor. If you get it close to storable moisture and want to keep it long term, it might be smart to unload it, and reload it. Moving it will help keep mold from starting.

Why run the fan at night? Won't it just draw the moisture that was pulled out during the day back in?

coonie minnie · Sep 26, 2021

In soybeans, you are correct. With corn or wheat, it is recommended to keep the drying front moving regardless of weather. There was some research done in Canada a few years ago that indicated that more
drying took place at night than during the day... probably because you warm the grain during the day, and the cooling air at night helps pull out some of the moisture?? It was counterintuitive, but it
worked!

chuck from neb · Sep 26, 2021

Keep your fan running day and night shutting it off at night we'll just give it a chance to heat up

coonie minnie · Sep 26, 2021

That's determined by air flow... size of fan, depth of grain. The chart just shows what is theoretically possible.

ss55 · Sep 26, 2021

This was a JD 237 mounted picker with a JD 50 sheller in place of the rear ear corn elevator.

ss55 · Sep 27, 2021

How is it working out?

Corn drying?

tomstractorsandtoys

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