Check on Stored Grains

As the calendar moves to the end of February, NDSU Extension agricultural engineer Ken Hellevang reminds farmers to monitor the grain in their bins. “We’re seeing twice as much solar energy on the south wall of a bin now as in June. That’s partly because of the solar angle, but there is a lot of heat hitting that south wall. We need to monitor the temperature at the top of the bin and along the south wall and running the fans to keep grain cool.” Hellevang says managing wet grain in storage will vary by crop. “We’ll need to be looking at different moisture contents for soybeans. We are limited to 15 to 16 percent moisture. For corn, we can handle 20 to 21 percent moisture. Once we’re doing the drying, management doesn’t really change.”