Corn Drying Question

I have a 21' bin with drying floor and circ-u-flow system in it. In the past I have put 17-18% corn in and ran air only to dry it. How wet can I put in corn and air dry if I only put in a ring at a time? Say the corn is 23 or24%, as long as the air is moving, and I run the circ-u-flow from time to time, it should dry down ok, shouldn't it. Don't have a LP tank, didn't want to get one, but might have to. Only have 40 acres to combine, so I can wait a few extra days between combining next batch. Any thoughts? Chris

i wouldn't try anything much over 20%. will take some time to get 24% down with just air.

may as well let it stand in the field for awhile longer.

It depends on temp of the grain,outside temp,RH and more doesent it?

As long as you let the air run it will not spoil at 24% miosture. But it will take forever to dry.

As T.K. said under 20 would work much better.

Our corn here in eastern Iowa is still high in moisture also. Still in the upper 20's.

We were spoiled with dry corn the last 5 or 6 years.

I also air dry and would like to see it under 22 before I start.

Gary

If a circ-u-flow is just another name for a stirring system, then DO NOT run it when air-drying. Depending on cfm of fan and corn moisture, put in a shallow layer, get ALL possible openings open for ventilation, and keep checking the top of the corn. It may actually get wetter as the drying front moves up. Once the TOP is dry, add more corn.

Best bet is to wait a while yet. A few nice days, and your whole field will end up dryer than the batch in the bin you are waiting on.Then you will be waiting on the wet corn you "just had" to pick wet to dry down because adding more to the bin with such wet stuff underneath isn't safe.

I have 250,000 bu to pick, but am not starting yet. We have been having nice days in Iowa--I bet one of these days the corn will begin coming down ( and I am still working on sb anyway).

OK you are bringing back my college days. I took a course at ISU covering grain handling not saying that makes me a expert by any means, but the guy that taught the course is quoted often in farm magazines and on the radio.

The drying zone when using natural air is approximatly 2 feet thick. If I remember right corn will dry to approximatly 14% to 15% and stay there. If you are using natural air LEAVE THE STIRRING MACHINE OFF. 2t2@ia and I have this discussion every year.

As corn gets wetter the storage life exponentially decreases. It really starts to drop off above 20% if I remember right.

I would wait till you are pulling in corn consistantly below 20%. I wouldn't worry too much about layering or binning in batches. Get at least 2 feet in the bin, turn on the fans and then fill as you can. If you want to save the electricity just turn off the fans when the humidity is high like above 70 to 80% RH. Running the fans above that level without heat won't do any damage but won't do any good either. From the air corn doesn't pick up any appreciable moisture but you won't do any drying either.

If you have left the stirring machine off during the whole process it is real easy to know when the bin is done if most of the corn went in at the same moisture. Just pull some samples from the top and when it is to a satisfactory level the whole bin is done.

sorry for the long post.

hth

jt

If you are drying with air only, no better place to do it then in the field. Each kernal is exposed to air. On the calender you will be done harvesting just as soon.