Less drying time also suggested | Turn on fan as soon as it goes into bin
INDIAN HEAD, Sask. — Ron Palmer is fine-tuning his recommendations about when to dry grain.
The engineer’s research at the Indian Head Agricultural Research Foundation, which was first released in February 2012, suggested that running aeration fans at night would dry grain more quickly.
A year later, he said fans could run even less time than overnight. Turning on the fan as soon as grain is dumped in the bin and turning it off at 9 a.m. that first morning would result in an average drop in moisture content of one percent.
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He said that first night also typically results in a temperature decrease in the bin of 10 C. The grain should be cold enough after a few nights that it is safe to dry slowly and run the fans less.
Now he’s turning his attention to fan size.
“I’m thinking we could use a lot smaller fans,” he told producers attending the IHARF annual field day July 23.
“The golden rule is one cfm (cubic foot per minute) per bushel. I think it could be a tenth of that, which says that we could be using smaller fans on our regular bins, or that we could be using five horsepower fans even on these gigantic bins.”
Palmer said the trick is to first cool the grain so that slow, patient drying can take place.
He said farmers could save a lot in electricity if they ran their fans a quarter of the time or less than the usual practice of operating fans 24 hours a day until the grain is dry. This practice would also mean running fans at night, which is not the peak use time for power utilities.
Palmer’s research, which is continuing this year and next at Indian Head, has drawn skepticism and support. He said it’s all about keeping stored grain safe.
“It’s not me saying this,” he said. “It’s the data that’s telling me this.”
He said data from instruments in his bins clearly show a cycle of drying at night and wetting during the day. His advice to leave the fan off during hot days is contrary to what many people would think, but he said hot air carries far more moisture than cold air, which is why running fans during the day adds moisture to the grain.
A simple rule of thumb is to turn on the fan only if the air temperature is lower than the grain temperature.
“The colder the night the better. If it’s not a cold night, don’t even turn it on,” he said. “If it’s raining, don’t turn it on.”
Some drying can occur on cool days if they are dry, but only occasionally, he added.
