Drying wheat below 15% in December

[yellow belly]

Excellent advice thankyou . What are your thoughts on grain butler type stirrers and drying speed? Some studies suggest it slows drying by interrupting fronts, but does avoid the costly over dying you refer to

stiring would be of benefit if you are storing long term
but if you are loading out next week just mixing grain up has the same effect

the key to drying is to have an accurate moisture meter dry get a sample of your grain tested at a descent lab then use that to check your meter daily

the practical solution to over drying is to set your dry ging with heat then measure the bottom grain once the drying front is pat way up adjust the heat up or down to get the grain dry enough at the bottom
for loading out next week over drying 2/3 and not drying 1/3 may be cheaper as you will only have to blow long enough to move the drying front up 2/3 of the heap

I would try to dry the front of the heap more than the back as the first load will have more top corn unless as suggested above you load up your trailers and blend it in at the back

 

[stroller]

Will using a propane space heater add moisture to the air as a product of combustion?
I have an empty shed with wooden floor so I have spread about 30t 3ft deep, I have been running the fan when humidity is below 50%, but it seems to be very slow.
I have the same problem as Shakerator, need to take 0.5% out of 2 loads of Crusoe , ADM mills at avonmouth have a meter that reads 1% wetter than mine.

 

[Lincsman]

Will using a propane space heater add moisture to the air as a product of combustion?
I have an empty shed with wooden floor so I have spread about 30t 3ft deep, I have been running the fan when humidity is below 50%, but it seems to be very slow.
I have the same problem as Shakerator, need to take 0.5% out of 2 loads of Crusoe , ADM mills at avonmouth have a meter that reads 1% wetter than mine.

Propane is fine, many systems use it, as before fire it flat out until lorry comes.

 

[Grains Guru]

If you've wet milling in the shed you need to watch the Ochratoxin A levels. Get it dried ASAP. Most flour mills will not accept deliveries over 15% moisture from January for this very reason.

 

[spikeislander]

Excellent advice thankyou . What are your thoughts on grain butler type stirrers and drying speed? Some studies suggest it slows drying by interrupting fronts, but does avoid the costly over dying you refer to

I have a grain butler I do hire but it's out at the moment so not much help if it's out next week

 

[Ebbage Seeds]

If you've wet milling in the shed you need to watch the Ochratoxin A levels. Get it dried ASAP. Most flour mills will not accept deliveries over 15% moisture from January for this very reason.

Would Ochratoxin A affect germination?

 

[Woldgrain Storage]

Would Ochratoxin A affect germination?

This paper describes Ochratoxins and their causes.
http://www.angelfire.com/planet/sarahpatterson/ochratoxin_formation.pdf

There is little evidence to suggest that the presence of Ochratoxins results in reduced germination. Levels in stored cereals are usually 0-10 parts per billion, so much lower than DON mycotoxin levels.

 

[Mark C]

You'll be surprised what a lot of air flow and l bit of heat can achieve. We dried some grain maize down form 30%+ to 15% on our wooden floor last december. It was no more that 3 foot deep and fans running 24/7 with heat in the daytime. Stirred it up a bit after a few days with the loader bucket and it dried in 14 days.

 

[shakerator]

Thanks all
It appears to have done the job