Wheat harvest is just beginning in Ontario, so it’s high time to make sure your grain storage and dryers are ready for this coming season! In our Ontario climate, grain dryers are an essential part of our production system, allowing us to grow longer-season crops and take advantage of yield benefits, while still being able to dry crops down for…
In these uncertain times, farmers with grain still in the bin may be considering storing that grain a bit longer than they’d originally expected. If you are in that situation, there are a few steps to take which will help you store your grain long-term in good condition. ENSURE GRAIN IS DRY When it comes to storage, keep grain cool…
Farmers who may be struggling to get corn dried this year are looking for alternate options. It is possible to use natural (unheated) air to dry the corn. Natural air drying is gentle and does not require any specialized equipment, other than a grain bin with a reasonably-sized fan, and maybe a small heater. However, the drying speed and final…
Many grain farmers may have questions about storing and drying corn this year, with recent propane shortages and a lot of wet corn still in the field. Decisions for harvesting corn will vary from farm to farm based on local conditions and factors (corn moisture, distance to alternative dryers, crop standability). Some farmers may already have harvested wet grain and…
So your corn was planted late and got damaged by frost, or maybe it wasn’t quite fully mature when you harvested. You ended up harvesting low-test-weight corn. Now it needs to be dried and stored. Storing in your own bins may provide some marketing advantages. There may not be much tolerance for lower-quality grain sold at harvest, since everyone is…
Late planting combined with below-average heat unit accumulation this year means Ontario’s corn crop is behind in maturity from where we would normally expect it to be. Autumn is here in full swing and many parts of the province have already experienced frost. If corn is not fully mature by the time the first frost hits, frost damage can occur. …
James Dyck April 12, 2019 1862 Comments Off on Storage Tips for Mouldy Corn (Part 2): Spring EditionThe 2018 corn harvest that many might rather forget is finally past us… yields were high but unfortunately so were DON levels in many parts of the province. Many farmers chose to dry and store their high-DON corn rather than sell it at harvest, in hopes that better marketing opportunities might open up. As long as your corn was dry…
The wet fall and delayed harvest of 2018 has left a lot of Ontario soybeans still in the field. This is a big deal, especially for farmers who are growing Identity-Preserved (IP) soybeans with a premium of several dollars per bushel! And the main question growers are asking: If my beans are wet, can I bin-dry them with regular air? …
James Dyck May 30, 2017 5573 Comments Off on Soil Compaction: Stay Off the Field Until the Soil is ReadyIt’s now the end of May, so the “perceived optimum” planting date for corn and soybeans has passed. Optimum planting date assumes the soil is “fit” for seeding – if the soil is unfit, the optimum planting date lingers until soil conditions are suitable. The extremely wet weather this spring has left soils saturated and delayed planting. So we ask…