—Lancaster Fannins, Saturday, February 11,1978 12 Com management critical at dryer By DIETER KRIEG HERSHEY No com storage facility is complete today without aeration, says Joseph McCurdy, Extension agricultural engineer from Penn State University. Calling proper cooling of dried grain the biggest problem in storage management, the scientist says he has heard of com that isn't wanted simply because the farmer neglected to store it properly. Corn drying and storage are receiving more and more attention these days as cattle, poultry and dairy producers demand high quality feeds and operating expenses dictate top-level management, (hi the other side, energy shortages and storage limitations are pinching the grain farmer. Speaking here Thursday, at Founder’s Hall as part of a program designed to bring out the latest in com and soybean management, Me Curdy urged farmers to plan wisely when they’re con sidering drying and storage facilities on their farms. Once the first bin is set, other phases of the operation must be built around it. His advise is to plan something on paper, then figure on doubling it in the near future, and if that’s not feasible, then the plan isn’t right. His study on the subject shows that existing systems have been expanded tremendously, and the farmer who isn’t taking this into consideration in his own operation may only be kidding himself. The farmer should even think of possibly ] adding a vertical elevator ( and dumping pit. I Another point McCurdy stressed is safety. Farmers START STRONG, FINISH FAST WITH THE VIGOH POWER HARROW. If you want to witness a great pact, wet subsoil with held event, look at the Vicon out bringing it to the sur- Power Harrow in operation. face to dry. This amazing tillage tool You can be sure, too, of behind a plow leaves a / Y fast action on parts, ser firm, uniformly level seed- vice and equipment when bed with once-over prep- you depend on Vicon See aration the P° wer Harrow at your With lower horse- Vicon dealer. Or call or write power requirements for more information. You’ll than competitors, the \ v A recognize why the Power Vicon Power Harrow is a\J VI Harrow is the champion winner in energy savings Jf// in today’s minimum-tillage Since moisture conserva- try farming. tion is essential, it does the nnimhiiebmum* job by breaking up com- wh*u»nauointnimiui*. Man farm nacMmnr inc.d^) 3741 Cook Blvd CtiesapeaKe Virginia — too often fail to realize the deadly potential of flowing grains. “They’re worse than quicksand,” he asserted; and to some they even have a fascinating appeal. Children are especially vulnerable to being lost in piles of grain. To exemplify his warning, he illustrated how a 6-inch auger can deliver 20 cubic feet of com per minute. It takes just seconds to reach a point of no return. Even a fully grown man is helpless once he’s caught in the gram above his knees, warned the engineer. The expenses of drying com will rise sharply in years to come, McCurdy and other predict. Scientists are therefore hard at work at tempting to devise systems which will be more economical to operate. Even solar energy is being tried, but the initial in vestments thus far outweigh the savings in conventional fuels. In future years, however, it’ll be turned around, says McCurdy. While different methods of drying may be considered by the farmer, some general rules apply to all. “Anytime the corn temperature in storage is 10 degrees above the tem perature of the outside air, aeration is necessary,” McCurdy emphasizes, ad ding that this is a point some farmers fail to recognize. Here is where a good crop of com go bad if left in storage too long. It’s best to store corn at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or less, he recommends. “Aeration is necessary to prevent mold,” the scientist continued to explain. “It takes hundreds of hours to finish the job - until com is under 40 degrees, we aren’t CONTACT: HAROLD McCAUSLIN Box 171 Vineland, New Jersey 08360 Joe McCurdy done,” he says. Once it’s under 40 degrees, it’ll allow the farmer to swing his product into most any marketing situation. A chart accompanying his presentation documented that com stored at 15 per cent moisture and 35 degrees can be safely stored for 1140 days. Storage length is reduced to 337 days for 15 per cent moisture com if tem perature is increased to 55 degrees. The time limit at 75 degrees is just 116 days. It’s vital, however, that moisture be down to around 15 per cent if it is stored. Corn at 20 per cent moisture, for example, will only hold for 118 days at 35 degrees, just 35 days at 55 degrees, and a mere 12 days at 75 degrees. “Cooling is extra im portant,’’ McCurdy repeatedly emphasized. The Penn State also told his audiences that com will only dry down to certain levels at certain tem perature and humidity conditions. A point is eventually reached when the moisture content of the kernel won’t be affected by outside conditions. This strikes' down a common “myth” which says dry com can easily pick up moisture during bad weather. That is not true once the kernels reach what is known as “equilibrium moisture content.” Prior to that point being reached, however, the moisture content of the kernel will try to equalize with the moisture content of the surroundings, and vice versa. Corn drying is affected by three prime factors, the researcher reminded the audience. Temperature, air volume, and relative humidity, are the basics. Varying them affects the efficiency of the system. Raising air temperature by 20 degrees Fahrenheit, for example, will just about double the water holding ability of the air, says Mc- Curdy. Studies show that it takes 2000 BTU’s of energy to remove a pound of water from a bushel of com. Harvesting com at 26 per cent moisture and then drying it to 15% per cent would mean removing 7.9 pounds of moisture per bushel, McCurdy continued. At that rate it takes a gallon of LP gas for every 5.8 bushels of gram going through the dryer. The economics of com drying can be easily recognized once it’s known that com contains twice as much at- say 30 per cent, as opposed to 22 per cent. Drying costs are therefore doubled. McCurdy sees some real possiblities here to cut costs and urges farmers to consider their options. For higher production... According to McCurdy, any discussion on corn handling in Pennsylvania must still include ear com. There’s a justified need and demand for such com, he adds. That leaves con ventional com cribs in the storage picture. Penn State engineers recommend that the long, narrow com cribs not exceed five feet in width. Round wire bins should not have a diameter in excess of 12 feet, and some kind of aeration is practically a must if spoilage is to be avoided. Another alternative is the wide storage bin which depends on forced air for drying and ventialtion. One such bin is in use in Blair County and has a capacity of 6000 bushels. A IVz hor sepower motor powers a 42- inch fan to facilitate drying and cooling. No heat is required in the drying process. The shed, built of wire and lumber, may be used for storage of equip ment and supplies such as fertilizer during other times of the year, McCurdy noted, A number of farmers are finding out that they can use a barn for storage of com, and thus have more than one use for their facilities, the engineer said. Bin drying is still the cheapest and simplest for shelled corn, McCurdy (Turn to Page 26) /
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