IS IT A MONEY SAVER? “Not everybody is practicing low-temp corn drying, but they should be. There are lots of advantages. Farmers can use longer maturing, higher yielding varieties and they can harvest the corn wetter in the fall and dry it with low temps. They gain by ending up with higher test weight corn and by accessing markets requiring higher quality corn because the starch and protein quality increases. They can contract corn for delivery in September. They can increase their overall yield quite substantially. The total value to the farmer can be more than 50 cents a bushel. Drying at low temps improves the quality of the corn. For the farmers invested in ethanol, particularly in POET plants, it should improve the economic returns for them and the ethanol plant.”
Steve Lewis, Vice President of Innovation at POET Research
“It’s worth the investment. History shows us that two out of every 10 years you will have to dry every kernel of corn on your farm. If you’re using propane, that’s four times the cost of using electricity.”
Darrin Ihnen, Board Chair at POET Biorefining – Chancellor
“There are computer systems that make the process almost flawless. You set it, tell it what you want it to do, and 99 percent of the time it comes out exactly right. With this system we’re using 66 percent less electricity because we have a computer telling the fan when to turn on and turn off. ”
Cole Pestorious, co-owner of Frontier Family Farms in Albert Lea, Minn
HOW DO I START? “You have to have the right technology in the bin. There is technology in grain bins that can monitor what’s going on so you don’t have to worry about hot spots. You can use variable fans and add equipment that can measure moisture and temperature. You can even monitor it offsite from your phone.”
Darrin Ihnen, Chairman of the Board at POET Biorefining – Chancellor
“You need enough storage to hold your grain and make sure it stays in good condition all year. You need to have the dryer capacity to dry your crop. When I was young we ran the corn dryer at the maximum. People always used to run their dryer at 230 degrees. Now we don’t go over 200. If we’re only removing 3 to 5 percentage points of moisture we’ll go down to 160 degrees. We also have a system in our bin in which a computer controls the fan. We have enough air capacity to ensure that our grain moisture stays the same. If we start hauling out in January and are still hauling out in August, it’s always 15 percent moisture.”
Gary Pestorious, co-owner of Frontier Family Farms in Albert Lea, MN
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