butocpah.gif (2019 bytes)

CROP MANAGEMENT
Corn Storage and Grain Drying Research Expected to Save Farmers Big Money
By Ken Hough, OCPA Director of Research and Market Development

Plans are finalized for the second harvest/storage year for the damp corn storage program being undertaken by OCPA in cooperation with the University of Guelph and Casco. In the project last fall and winter, six farmer cooperators in Eastern Ontario stored a total of 1,670 tonnes (66,500 bu) of corn with an average moisture content of 20.4 per cent (range of 17.6-21 per cent), shipping approximately 960 tonnes to Casco-Cardinal in mid-January, and the balance in early March. Casco-Cardinal expressed excellent satisfaction with the quality and processing of the damp corn at both delivery times, and wet-milling analyses at the University of Illinois showed a 67.3 per cent starch yield, an increase of 3.5 per cent with the damp corn compared to samples of the same corn dried artificially at harvest.

Expanded Eastern Ontario Damp Corn Storage Project
Based on last year’s favourable results, Casco and OCPA are expanding the damp corn storage program in Eastern Ontario this fall and winter. Plans are underway to enlist enough farm cooperators with suitable grain storage facilities (adequate aeration capability, ability to monitor grain temperature and condition, etc.) to store about 8,000 tonnes (320,000 bu) of corn at 20-23 per cent moisture content, for delivery to Casco at the end of February, 2000.

This quantity will allow Casco to conduct a week-long damp corn processing run, to better determine their true starch yield and processing efficiency of the damp corn, compared to dry corn runs before and after. This will provide results on the true value of the damp corn to Casco, and help the company determine the incentive level it could offer on an ongoing basis to encourage farmers to store damp corn during the winter months.

Participating cooperators must sign a delivery contract with Casco, so the company can calculate the total quantity of damp corn to be delivered, and manage its processing run appropriately. Participants will receive a project participation incentive of 10 cents per bushel for the damp corn. (Grain below 18 per cent moisture is not eligible for the incentive payment.) Any corn growers who were unable to attend the September 21 Wet Corn Storage Seminar in South Mountain – but are interested in participating in the project – are invited to contact Clare Brown (Casco – Cardinal, 613-757-3131), Don Kenny (OCPA Director, 613-799-7236), or Dr. Ralph Brown (University of Guelph, 519-824-4120, ext. 3922) for details about storage facility requirements and contract/project participation information.

Damp Corn Pilot Project in Southwestern Ontario
To determine whether corn at 18-22 per cent moisture can be stored equally well in southwestern Ontario’s slightly warmer winter conditions, a smaller, 1,250-tonne (50,000 bu) pilot study will involve a half-dozen or so farm cooperators with suitable storage/aeration facilities in the London vicinity. As with last year’s similar pilot study in the east, the University of Guelph research team will coach cooperators in the London project. The team will advise on suitable grain aeration management to ensure grain is quickly brought to and held at cold temperatures, and assist with ongoing close monitoring of grain temperature, moisture and condition from bin filling near the end of harvest through to shipment to Casco London in early March. The London-pilot project cooperators will receive a project participation incentive of 20 cents/bu which reflects the higher potential risk to cooperators for their participation.

Associated Research
Other corn drying research is also underway, focusing on:

butocpah.gif (2019 bytes)

1