To maintain the right temperature of the grains is necessary to retain the right moisture content levels. The presence of moisture is required not only at the time of growing plant but also after the production i.e. when the grain is harvested. However, if the moisture content is too high or too less as detected by the grain temperature monitoring system, it can create issues that are related to storage. Therefore, the farmers ensure that the grains are dried up to the desired content after harvest and a range of temperatures is maintained to reduce the development of fungi, mold, etc., and infestation of insects, pests, rodents, etc. These factors are responsible to impact the value of the grain negatively.
Drying of the grain after harvesting consumes a lot of energy as a part of the farm operation. Thus, adopting some cost-effective measures and methods of drying grains will save a lot of money as well as energy. Here are the tips that the farmers can follow for cost-effective drying of crops:
How to reduce grain drying costs?
All heat mode
Vacuum cooling
Dry evenly
Plenum Temperature High
Grain temperature monitoring system
All heat mode
Running a dryer at all-heat mode is found to be a cost-effective way of drying grain. Under this technique, the grain is heated in the dryer and allowed to cool down in the bin itself. This technique is useful when the grain needs to be at higher moisture content. It is possible to save around 20% to 30% of operating costs when the all-heat mode is followed. If the farmer is using a big bin with a capacity of 50,000 bushels or less, they need to have more number of roof vents and also bigger aeration fans for effectively drying the grain. However, this method may not be suitable in case the bin is huge and can store grain of more than 50.000 bushels. Although it is an inexpensive method to dry crops it requires a lot of management and time.
Vacuum cooling
Heat recovery or vacuum cooling is helpful where the quantity of stored grain is high. In this, the heat is recycled during the process and it takes less fuel during the process. It uses advanced technology and is more effective than the all heat mode of drying grain. This method is suitable for centrifugal stack dryers, centrifugal dryers, and towel dryers.
Dry evenly
When you are using a dryer to dry the grain, it is necessary that it should dry evenly. There should not be some sections that are overdried while others remain under dried. This should be avoided as uneven drying will cost you more. Moreover, the overdrying of the grains will lower the weight of the grain. Grain inverter systems can move all the grain for effective drying. Here, the heated grains are redirected to pull from the inside of the pillar and they are pushed near to the dampest grain from the outside of the pillar. Under this method, the loss of heat is prevented by up to 15% as compared to other methods.
Plenum Temperature High
The higher the temperature of the plenum, the grains will be dried efficiently. Usually, during the end of the season, farmers keep the plenum temperature low so that the fuel can be saved. In fact, alternatively, the higher temperatures are better to adopt as they reduce the drying time and lead to saving of the fuel cost.
Grain temperature monitoring system
To check that the grains are at the right temperature, it is necessary that they are not over-dried. Using the grain temperature monitoring system, you can keep a check on the temperature and keep monitoring the conditions of the grain using suitable devices that are connected such as Grain Temp Guard – Alarm DT/ HT. A reliable and accurate grain temperature monitoring system like Grain Temp Guard Dual Alarm system when connected with the Grain Temp Guard probes can efficiently. At the same time, these grain temperature monitoring systems do not keep you occupied as you can focus on other tasks while you are free from the job of keeping an eye on the temperature of the grain. These monitoring systems can work at par with the grain bin weather station. Any variation in the temperature will trigger an alarm by the grain temperature monitoring system so that you can take corrective action and measures accordingly. All you need to do is put the probes/ cables at various spots to detect the temperature.