What is the cost of drying corn?

What is the cost of drying corn?

In fact, the corn drying cost to remove 10 percent moisture is about 42 cents per bushel, while the same moisture level market discount would be 65 cents per bushel.

What does a grain dryer cost?

The dryer itself may run as high as $100,000. To know whether you can justify it, divide the total annual cost by the number of bushels per year you plan to dry, advises Minnesota’s Wilcke. That will give you a cost per bushel.

How much electricity does a grain dryer use?

Electricity used averaged 0.022 kWh per point of grain moisture removed per bushel of dried corn. Total energy used for drying per pound of water removed from grain is a measure of energy efficiency and ranged from 2,470 to 2,960 Btu per pound of water removed.

What is dry cost?

Drying cost are composed of fixed cost consisting of depreciation, cost of interest, repair cost, and opportunity cost, and of variable costs consisting mainly of fuel, labor, and electricity costs.

How do you price wet corn?

“If the buyer and seller agree on this method of adjusting for the excess moisture, they can determine the value of the 1,000 pounds of high-moisture corn by multiplying the cash price per bushel of corn on that day by the equivalent bushels of 15.5% moisture corn in the load,” says Fanning.

How do you calculate dry corn per bushel?

Wetter grain obviously weighs more than drier grain and so grain buyers will “shrink” the weight of “wet” grain (greater than 15% moisture) to the equivalent weight of “dry” grain (15% moisture) and then divide that weight by 56 to calculate the market bushels of grain they will purchase from the grower.

How much natural gas does a grain dryer use?

A very rough estimate of gas use for gas-fired drying is 0.02 gallons of LP per bushel per percentage point of moisture removed.

How do you calculate drying cost?

The labor cost per bushel dried can be estimated by dividing a typical farm labor wage rate per hour by the number of bushels typically dried in an hour by the system, then multiplying by the percent of the total drying time that labor is needed.

What is the process of drying?

Drying is a mass transfer process consisting of the removal of water or another solvent by evaporation from a solid, semi-solid or liquid. A source of heat and an agent to remove the vapor produced by the process are often involved.

What is the price of high moisture corn?

Table 1. Effect of harvest method on crop value per acre and crop value per ton.

Pounds Sold or Fed (as is basis) Net Corn Price, $ Per Bu (15% moisture)
Dry Corn, 15% moisture 8400 $3.50
HM corn, 30% moisture 10200 $3.50
Earlage, 34% moisture 12727 $3.50
Corn, harvested at 22%, dried to 15% 8193 $3.15

How do you calculate the drying charge on corn?

For the 1,000 bushels of 20.5percent moisture corn the drying charge would be 5.5 points x $.048 per point x 1,000 bushels = $264. The seller would be charged this amount directly or have it deducted from the gross sales amount. In addition, assume a shrink factor of 1.4 percent of the volume of grain is assessed for each point of extra moisture.

How much does it cost to dry corn per bushel?

Estimate energy cost per bushel for drying corn from 21 to 16 percent moisture when liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) costs $2.00 per gallon and electricity costs $0.10 per kilowatt hour (kWh).

How much energy does it take to dry corn?

University of Minnesota drying studies, based on many years of weather data, indicate the following electric energy use values are reasonable averages for drying corn from 21 percent moisture to 16 percent. This assumes the drying bin is equipped with a fan that can supply 1.0 cubic foot of air per minute per bushel (cfm/bu) of grain in the bin.

Should corn be dried in the field before selling?

Even after corn has dried in the field, producers will still have to choose among the options discussed above for their final sale. However, the more moisture that is removed by drying in the field, the less impact artificial drying costs and moisture discounts will have on the net revenue received.

author

Back to Top