A successful harvest depends on uncontrollable factors like weather and crop maturity coming together when you need them to. One way to gain control is by drying your grain.
Using a grain dryer can eliminate several days of in-field drying and ensure your grain is at its optimal moisture content, while also conditioning the grain more quickly and effectively than traditional aeration.
First things first
You should prepare a budget to help you understand and plan for the cost of drying your grain. Co-op can help you with this. You’ll need to let them know if your dryer is batch or continuous flow, what the BTUs are, your tank size and set-up, and the type of crop you are drying.
This information is applied to a basic formula to calculate the propane needs for grain drying. For example, a one-million-litre BTU continuous-flow dryer burns 42 litres per hour; using a 1,000-gallon storage tank would provide approximately three days of continuous-flow drying on a single tank of propane.
Propane is not your only expense needing to be factored into grain-drying costs. Others include:
- Electricity
- Labour hours
- Repairs
- Initial cost and depreciation of grain dryers and other equipment
- Investment costs
Calculators like this one from Manitoba Agriculture can help you determine an overall budget for grain drying.
Getting started
New propane grain dryers use 1,650 British Thermal Units (BTUs) to remove a pound of water compared with older technology that take as many as 3,500 BTUs. Propane’s clean-burning properties contribute to lower equipment maintenance costs compared to grain dryers that run on traditional fuels.
Once you’ve decided to invest in a grain dryer, preparation and planning are critical. Having a Co-op Propane professional involved as early as possible ensures that everything progresses smoothly, from the planning stage, to installation, to starting up your grain dryer. Working with Co-op Propane helps to ensure that tank sizes match the BTU load of the dryer, the setup and installation meet safety standards, and that all required permits have been pulled for the tank and the appliance.
Plan ahead for best prices
Seasonal demands dictate propane pricing, so you can manage your costs by planning ahead and booking your summer fill in preparation for harvest to secure optimal prices.
In addition, our bulk propane delivery service and remote tank monitoring systems will keep you from running out of propane when you need it most.
For more information on Co-op Propane, or to book your fill, contact your local Fuel Team member today.