April 15, 2024 • 33 mins
In this episode of the Whole Grain Podcast, Ken Hellevang, an expert in grain drying and storage from North Dakota State University Extension, sits down with Jim Lenz for "Optimizing Spring Grain Drying and Storage: Insights from Ken Hellevang."
The episode considers critical aspects of managing grain during the spring season. Hellevang discusses challenges posed by warmer temperatures, solar heat gain, and moisture content fluctuations while offering practical recommendations for maintaining grain quality and safety. Listeners will gain a comprehensive understanding of the strategies and best practices necessary to optimize spring grain drying and storage operations.
Key Topics:
Understanding Spring Grain Challenges: Ken Hellevang explains the increased risk of grain storage problems during the warmer winter and early spring, highlighting the impact of solar heat gain on grain bins.
Recommendations for Aeration and Ventilation: Hellevang discusses the importance of running aeration fans during the spring to mitigate temperature increases and offers practical tips for effective ventilation.
Monitoring Stored Grain: The conversation explores the significance of frequent grain monitoring to detect storage problems early, including temperature checks and inspections for insect infestations.
Importance of Moisture Content Control: Hellevang emphasizes the role of moisture content in grain storage, providing recommendations for optimal moisture levels and discussing implications of exceeding these levels.
Strategies for Natural Air-Drying: Specific airflow rates and moisture content recommendations for natural air-drying of different grains are outlined, along with their significance in maintaining grain quality.
Safety Considerations in Grain Handling: Hellevang underscores the importance of safety in grain handling, highlighting key hazards and offering practical tips for mitigating risks.
Grain Elevator and Processing Society champions, connects and serves the global grain industry and its members. Be sure to visit GEAPS’ website to learn how you can grow your network, support your personal professional development, and advance your career. Thank you for listening to another episode of GEAPS’ Whole Grain podcast.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (00:06):
We're discussing optimizing spring
grain drying and storage, withDr Ken Hellevang coming up next.
Hello and welcome to the show.
Welcome to the Whole GrainPodcast.
My name is Jim Lenz, your hostand producer of the show and the
director of global training andeducation at GEAPS.
We're the mission of the GrainElevator and Processing Society
(00:27):
to champion, connect and servethe global grain industry and
our members at Jeeps.
We work to be the globalcommunity and thought leader for
the grain industry which feedsand fuels the world.
Thanks for listening today andfor joining the network of
thousands of other grainhandling and processing
professionals across the globetaking strategic steps to grow
professionally.
(00:47):
The Whole Grain Show will giveyou the competitive advantage to
work at work so you can makemore of an impact.
All right, our guest for todayis Dr Ken Hellevang.
Ken has a PhD degree inengineering, is a registered
(01:08):
professional engineer and hasobtained the academic rank of
tenured professor at NorthDakota State University.
As an extension and outreachengineer of agricultural and
biosystems engineering at NorthDakota State University, he's
provided education and technicalassistance in grain drying and
storage.
That's why it's exciting towelcome Dr Ken Hellebeng to the
(01:30):
show.
Thank you very much for yourparticipation in Whole Grain.
Dr. Ken Hellevang (01:33):
Well, it's nice to be on here with you.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (01:37):
Now to allow our listeners, Ken, to get to
know you.
At the start of the show, couldyou share with our listeners a
mantra or success quote that youlive by professionally?
Dr. Ken Hellevang (01:47):
I really enjoy what I do and that's
always a plus, and it gives mean opportunity to blend the
agriculture, which is mybackground as a youth, with
science and engineering andbring it to helping people and
(02:08):
solving problems, and that'sreally what is has energized me
during my career.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (02:14):
Started working in the family farm, is that it?
Dr. Ken Hellevang (02:17):
Right, actually it was a livestock
ranch and so transition over tograin came after I got started
in my career but had a livestockoperation that was involved
with FFA and 4-H and all of thatbackground.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (02:42):
I know you are in the around the world, but
there are also challenges beyondthe Midwest, but the Midwest is
going through.
At the time of this recording,it's been a dry winter unusually
dry in terms of moisture andsnowfall but we are going to be
talking about some things that Ithink impact a lot of people
around the world, and so,understanding spring grain
(03:04):
drying challenges.
Ken, you've highlighted theincreased risk of grain storage
problems with a warmer winterand early spring.
Could you explain to ourlisteners why this poses such a
critical issue?
Dr. Ken Hellevang (03:19):
Well, we are fortunate those of us that are
in the northern part of the USthat we have cool temperatures
during the winter, and thatenables us to store grain very
well.
When you look at what theparameters are.
Where we have good, easystorage, it's dry grain and cool
(03:43):
temperatures.
Storage, it's dry grain andcool temperatures, and so across
the northern region of the US,the cool temperatures help us to
store our grain all winter.
But then as we start cominginto late winter, early spring,
and then into summer storage,now we're faced with much warmer
(04:05):
temperatures, and thatincreases the potential for
insect infestations.
Also, if our grain is a littlebit too high in moisture content
for storage, then we see a lotof mold growth occurring, and so
that is something that itreally transitions in the spring
(04:26):
, and a lot of times I didn'twant to try to remember to
remind people that you knowwe're in this transition.
Those of us that have hadwinter are always looking
forward to spring, but that'snot a time to forget about our
stored grain.
We've got another piece, too,that we'll talk about, I think,
(04:49):
a little bit later, but as we gointo the spring, we've got a
very strong solar energycomponent that we need to take
into consideration.
It takes a lot of energy tomelt the snow and warm the cool
soils, and for a lot of thestorage region, our solar energy
(05:12):
impact is higher now than justabout any time during the year,
so spring becomes a good time tobe paying attention to things
that are really changing from astorage environment.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (05:27):
Thank you for your response.
You mentioned the significantimpact of solar heat gain on
grain bins, particularly in thespring.
How does this heat gain affectgrain storage and what steps can
be taken to mitigate itseffects?
Dr. Ken Hellevang (05:41):
Well, it's surprising to a lot of people
but at this time of year, as welook at the end of February and
into March, we're looking atmore solar heat gain on the
south wall of a bin than whatwe'll have during the summer.
Now, of course, that's due tothe high solar angle that we
(06:03):
have that in the winter it'slower and it's more impacting
that south wall.
But in addition to outsidetemperatures warming up, then we
have this solar energy that ishitting the south wall of the
bin and warming the grain that'snext to that south wall and
warming the grain that's next tothat south wall.
When we look at the solar heatgain on the bin roof, actually
(06:28):
it's not that much different inthe spring than it is in the
summer.
And so we've got all this solarenergy that is trying to warm
the grain up and what we want todo is to try to keep our grain
cool.
So we can do that as long as wehave cool outside weather and
(06:51):
we can aerate that grain.
We turn the fans on, run somecool air through the bin, cool
the grain back down, and thisyear a lot of the the US had
above normal temperatures allwinter so we might have warmer
grain at the end of the winterthis year than what we would in
(07:13):
a typical year.
So it becomes even moreimportant that we're in there
checking the temperature andknowing what the condition of
that grain is.
And knowing what the conditionof that grain is and then
running the aeration fans whenwe have cool outside
temperatures to cool that graindown.
The ideal temperature will varydepending on where you're at in
(07:39):
the world.
But here in the US, in thenorthern regions, but here in
(08:08):
the US in the northern regions,we should be able to strive to
try, because then that's belowthe threshold where we start
seeing more insect activity.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (08:13):
Now I'd love for you to talk about running
aeration fans during spring.
Can you elaborate on theimportance of this practice and
any other specificconsiderations for ventilation
to maintain optimal grainconditions?
Dr. Ken Hellevang (08:26):
Yeah, there's a couple things that come to
mind right away.
One is that controlling thegrain temperature is just as
important as controlling themoisture content.
We know that grain needs to bedry if we're going to store it,
but we can gain many benefits bykeeping the grain cool, by
(08:49):
selecting the time when we runthe aeration fan, and so the
goal, as I indicated, should beto try, in the northern part of
the US at least, to keep it 40degrees or cooler.
So we're then selecting timeswhen we have outdoor
temperatures that are coolenough so that when we run the
(09:12):
fan we're keeping it under that40 degree threshold, of course,
a goal.
Most goes without saying thatwe don't want to run it when
it's, you know, foggy or rainyor very humid conditions,
because then we're pumping thatmoisture back into the bin.
But as long as we're looking at, you know, a typical dry day,
(09:38):
yeah, the humidity at night mayend up being a little bit higher
, but generally that's notenough to cause any storage
issues.
So really, look at running thefan during the spring as needed
in order to keep the grain underthat threshold.
Then, as we go into the summer,we're going to have very
(10:01):
limited ability to find dayswhere the temperature is under
that 40 or 50 degrees, and sothen the goal is going to be to
prevent warm up in anothermanner, and the one that I
actually two points that Istress.
One is that we need to becovering the fan when it's not
(10:25):
operating, because if we have anopen fan and vents at the top
of the bin, we get a naturalchimney effect that takes place,
and so we're constantly pullingthat warm outside air in and
then it exhausts out through thebin roof.
That will warm the grain up, andso if the goal is to keep it
(10:49):
cool, we need to cover the fanwhen we're not running the fan.
The other thing is that is forlooking at warm outside
conditions.
Most people that have been inthe top of a grain bin in the
summertime know how hot it canget up there and we don't want
that heat to be warming thegrain.
(11:10):
So we need to have a way toventilate that heat out of the
bin.
That might be as easy asopenings at the eaves and at the
peak, so it'll naturallyventilate out that hot air.
Or frequently we'll see alsofans, exhaust fans put in the
(11:32):
roof and, as we're looking atstoring well into the summer.
I think it becomes moreimportant that we think about
how we're going to keep thatgrain cool by covering the fan
and maybe trying to get rid ofthat bin roof heat that is going
to warm the grain.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (11:53):
Really good points there.
Cover the fans when they're notbeing used.
Try not to bring that heat in.
Make sure things are ventilated.
In the summer with thatoverhead sun it really raises
the temperature inside there.
All this is important, and alsoimportant is monitoring storage
grain.
Could you explain why frequentmonitoring is essential and what
(12:16):
signs indicate potentialstorage problems?
Dr. Ken Hellevang (12:20):
Well, the first thing that I encourage
people to monitor is just tomake sure that the moisture
content of the grain is at theproper moisture content for
storage.
We might have had a lot of cornthat went into a bin at 15%
moisture, stored well overwinter, but that's too wet for
(12:44):
summer storage.
That's going to spoil before weget through the summer, and we
won't know that without checkingthe moisture content.
And so pulling a sample andjust verifying that the corn is
at the moisture content that wewant, or the soybeans are at the
moisture content that areneeded for summer storage, is
(13:07):
number one.
The other one is, sincetemperature is so important, we
need to monitor the temperatureprofile within that bin.
Typically, today, we're doingthat with some type of
temperature cable, and all theyare are some type of sensor that
(13:30):
is mounted on that cable andthen it gives us what the
temperature is.
Then it gives us what thetemperature is.
Sometimes people wonder well,what is the kind of magic
temperature you know, when itgets above 80, is that a problem
?
Is it get above whatever?
And really it's the trends thatare taking place that are
(13:52):
important.
We want to be making changesbefore we have problems, and so
by monitoring the temperatureprofile in the bin.
Once the temperature startsincreasing, that's an indication
either of spoilage occurringthat is producing heat, insect
(14:12):
activity that might be producingheat, and then, of course,
there will be some naturalwarming as well.
But if we have the bins sealedup, the fan covered, it's
surprising how cool that grainwill stay as we go through the
summer, and so monitoring thetemperature is so important.
(14:42):
There are new tools that peopleare starting to use, and one of
those are what is marketed asmoisture cables.
Really, what they're doing ismonitoring the relative humidity
and the temperature and thencalculating what the moisture
content will be, and that's anice tool, but it depends on the
(15:03):
accuracy of the relativehumidity measurement, and so I
encourage people check thespecifications on those cables
and see just how accurate theyare.
A lot of them will say thatthey're accurate within one plus
or minus one percentage point.
Well, corn is going to storequite a bit different at 15%
(15:30):
than it does at 14%, and sothat's why it's so important
that we cross-check it with theactual moisture meter.
Another new tool that isavailable is measuring the
carbon dioxide level, and carbondioxide is produced both by
mold and by insects.
(15:50):
It's again a nice tool.
The research has been done toshow that it can be used, but
the practical application isrelatively new and so, again, I
think it's a tool that we'relearning to use.
But where do we put the sensorand how important is a sealed
(16:13):
bin?
And there's a number of thosefactors that play into the
accuracy of that information.
So it gets back to reading themanual and making sure we
understand what it is that we'remeasuring and how accurately
it's going to depict what'sgoing on.
Temperature is the number one,easy one that we've done for
(16:39):
years.
The other one that takes alittle effort is still the
manual checking.
Go in and look, and I know weneed to be careful about grain
safety, but actually getting upin the bin and looking for
insects and checking for storageand implications of exceeding
(17:01):
these levels, sure, and I'llstart with corn.
(17:27):
I always stress and I doeducational presentations that
we market grain corn on 15.5%moisture basis, and that is fine
for winter storage as long aswe can keep it cold.
But if we're going to go intothe warm summer months where
(17:50):
we're going to be looking attemperatures of 70 degrees
rather than 40 degrees now, thecorn needs to be down at 14% or
even a little bit lower.
I usually say let's go forbetween 13 and 14% moisture if
we're intending to either storethrough the summer or if we're
(18:13):
shipping that corn where it'sgoing to end up being in a warm
environment.
Same thing occurs with soybeans.
The market moisture is 13, butif we're going to store into the
summer, warmer months, wereally need to be down between
11 and 12.
(18:34):
We've over the years said 11%is summer storage.
We're doing some research hereat North Dakota State University
that says maybe we can crowd alittle above 11, but still
somewhere in that 11 to 12%moisture is an absolute maximum
(18:54):
for warm temperatures.
Moisture is an absolute maximumfor warm temperatures.
If we shift to small grainswheat we always have talked
about 13, 13.5% moisture, andthat's because we handle wheat
typically when it's warm and sothe cereal grains end up being
(19:16):
fairly similar.
Whether we're talking corn orwheat, they're going to have
similar requirements as far asmoisture contents in order to
safely store at the warmtemperatures.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (19:37):
Now in that article I read you talked a
little bit about strategies fornatural air drying.
You've outlined specificairflow rates and moisture
content recommendations fornatural air drying of different
grains.
Could you walk us through thosestrategies a little bit and
their significance inmaintaining grain quality?
Dr. Ken Hellevang (19:53):
Yeah, and I'm going to start out with a
little bit of a qualifier thenatural air drying really
probably fits more for on-farmstorages or at elevators that
have some relatively small bins.
(20:14):
Small bins because the maximumdepth that I really encourage
people to think about doingnatural air drying is a grain
depth of about oh 21, 22 feetand there's a lot of the smaller
(20:34):
bins that fit that parameter,the smaller bins that fit that
parameter.
And if we're in that scenariothen we can do natural air
drying on corn and we'll be ableto handle up to about 21%
moisture corn.
But we need an airflow rate ofone cubic foot per minute per
(21:00):
bushel.
The reason that I say thatwe're limited to about 22 feet
is that it takes a lot of fanpower to get that amount of
airflow through something atgreater depths.
And we're running into thateven on farms today that I end
(21:20):
up helping people size bins.
That might be well.
I just did one yesterday thatwas 72 foot in diameter and 66
feet deep on a farm.
30 years ago we would havenever dreamt of that, but we're
doing it today.
That is not a drying bin.
(21:43):
That's going to be strictly forstorage and in most elevators
we're going to be looking atthose larger bins, so the
natural air drying may not fit.
Sometimes I get calls from guysthat say, well, I'm only taking
corn from 15 down to 14, Ishould be able to get by with
(22:07):
less airflow.
Unfortunately it doesn't workthat way.
We we need a lot of airflow totake out a lot of moisture, even
with one percentage point.
So the natural air drying maynot fit a whole lot for this
audience but certainly ifthey're making recommendations
(22:29):
to farmers or to others.
We say one CFM per bushel oncorn and that'll handle up to
about 21% moisture.
For soybeans it's a similarairflow, one CFM, but that'll
limit us to about 15%, maybe 16%moisture moisture For wheat
(23:01):
we're talking usually threequarters of a CFM per bushel in
moisture contents of 17, maybe18 percent moisture.
Anything above that in moisturecontent and we're really
talking about needing to move itinto a high temperature dryer.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (23:13):
Well, thank you for that, and with those
qualifying statements too,especially in considerations and
speaking with producers,farmers, from a perspective of
green elevators.
Now, all of us are concernedabout safety, as are you.
Safety is paramount.
What are some key safetyhazards associated with green
(23:34):
handling, particularly duringchallenging conditions, and how
can these risks be mitigated?
Dr. Ken Hellevang (23:42):
Well, there's several different safety
hazards that I'm going to verybriefly mention.
The one that most people thinkabout when we talk about grain
safety is grain entrapment orengulfment, where we go into a
bin and we end up submerged inthat bin of grain.
(24:05):
Up submerged in that bin ofgrain, and that typically occurs
when we're having problemsunloading the grain.
We end up with some crusting orchunks of grain and they end up
flowing down and blocking asump at the bottom of the bin or
restricting the flow of thatgrain.
(24:27):
So then somebody goes in thereand starts trying to break up
that chunk, and if the conveyingsystem is operational, they'll
end up getting sucked in.
We kind of refer to it similarto quicksand, that it only takes
just a matter of a coupleseconds and all of a sudden
(24:50):
you're into the point whereyou're trapped.
It may take 10 to 20 seconds tototally cover you up, but you
don't have time to react, and sothat is a safety hazard.
I say that you know the wholemake sure that the system is
(25:11):
shut off, lock out, tag outreally applies so that the
system doesn't automaticallycome on or somebody turn it on.
And then all of the confinedspace issues are very important
that we keep that in mind.
But there's some other hazardsthat sometimes I think we
(25:35):
overlook, and one of those isthe respiratory hazard.
Drain dust is a lung irritantis a lung irritant, and so I
strongly encourage people towear a dust mask if they're
working around grain to protecttheir lungs, to protect the
(25:56):
respiratory system.
And that becomes even moreimportant if we have a problem
here, because usually thosechunks or the problem is
associated with mold growth andinhaling mold spores, just tiny,
microscopic particles, but theythey get into your system and
(26:21):
they can cause a lot of damage.
They it might be a very rapidallergic reaction.
If it's a large dosage it mightbe a long-term lung incapacity.
I encourage people to wear anN95 rated mask so that we're
(26:44):
making sure that we're filteringthe air that comes in.
And then, last but not least, isa lot of our bins have some
type of sweep system or take outauger at the bottom, and people
need to be extremely cautiousaround them because, again, the
(27:09):
power that they have, themagnitude of the equipment is
such that if we slip and ourfoot gets in there,
unfortunately it's gone, and Ihear reports of people getting
caught in the takeout augersbleeding to death, you know, if
(27:33):
they happen to be in there bythemselves, it's just a hazard
that we need to keep in mind,and so those are the three that
I typically talk about.
I think most people are awareof the hazards, but sometimes we
just need to be reminded thatit is important to take care of
ourselves and those that areworking with us.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (27:55):
Well, thank you very much for bringing up those
safety concerns, something weall need to be very mindful of
and not have the mentality of,oh, it's never going to happen
to me, it's never going tohappen to our organization
Understanding why it isimportant for all of these, from
lockout takeout to justcommunication with the team.
(28:16):
I encourage listeners to reallyconnect with past episodes.
We have some compellingepisodes on safety and green
elevators, so check those out.
Ken, you've been wonderful forsharing these valuable insights
into proper spring grain dryingand storage practices.
It's been enlighteningdiscussion.
(28:36):
I'm sure our listeners have alot learned and gained from your
expertise.
Before we go, I want to giveyou an opportunity to share any
means for listeners to connectwith you, connect with your
organization and for any youngerlisteners who are joining the
show.
Why is this an industry?
(28:59):
That would be exciting and, inmany cases, innovative for those
looking to pursue this space.
Dr. Ken Hellevang (29:05):
Well, I'll probably talk about the last
point first, and that is I thinkthere's lots of opportunities
in agriculture in a wholespectrum of different levels.
Certainly, farming today is notwhat it used to be.
We're working with largeequipment and a lot of
(29:26):
technology, a lot ofsophistication that didn't exist
20, 30 years ago, and sothere's a lot of opportunities
there.
And we get into agribusinesswith the elevators.
There's a lot of opportunitieswhether you've got more of a
(29:47):
business focus or if you havemore of the equipment technology
area.
There's lots of opportunities.
And then I even am starting toget close to retiring myself and
you start thinking, okay, who'sgoing to replace me?
And I think that there areopportunities out there for
(30:11):
people that have more of ascience focus or engineering
focus, whether it be with auniversity or with industry.
There's some of the majorcompanies I know that employ
people that have this kind ofexpertise, and so I think
(30:47):
there's a range of opportunitiesof doing an overview of some of
the key topics.
I typically will refer back tosomeone that thought that they
kind of knew everything aboutgrain storage and drying and
that they could do all of it, doa presentation by themselves,
(31:11):
and then they listened tosomebody like me talk for a
while and started realizing thatyou know there's a lot more to
this than what I think.
But what makes it kind ofinteresting and challenging is
that I frequently say in mypresentations that I'll focus a
lot on the fundamentals, and thereason that I do that is that
(31:37):
each year ends up beingdifferent.
Mother Nature may give us a dryyear, it may give us a wet year
, cold year, warm year Eachharvest ends up being different,
and each year handling thisgrain ends up being different.
So then we take that basicfundamental knowledge that we
(31:58):
have and we're able to apply itand maximize the economic
investment that we have, thatwe're able to maintain the
quality of the grain, eitherthrough the drying system or the
storage environment, and soit's one that, when you start
(32:19):
looking at, I guess what makesme encouraged is the ability to
work with a whole variety ofdifferent types of grains and
technology, and then, if weapply it appropriately, we end
up with success at the end.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (32:36):
I like it.
I like it.
Thank you very much.
I appreciate that.
In fact, on behalf of theentire team at the Green
Elevator and Processing SocietyJeeps, we express our gratitude
to you, dr Ken Hellevang, forsharing your insights and
expertise in providing a lastinglegacy to advancing the grain
industry.
We thank you so much.
Dr. Ken Hellevang (32:56):
You're welcome.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (32:56):
And thank you for listening to this episode of
Whole Grain.
Whole Grain is a production ofGEAPS, the Grain Elevator and
Processing Society.
GEAPS is the largestorganization dedicated to
advancing the grain handling andprocessing industry.
Be sure to check out thewebsite jeepscom.
That's g-e-a-p-scom.
Continue listening, share thenews of the show with your
(33:17):
friends and colleagues.
Have yourself a great day andthanks for listening to Whole
Grain.
We're discussing optimizing spring
grain drying and storage, withDr Ken Hellevang coming up next.
Hello and welcome to the show.
Welcome to the Whole GrainPodcast.
My name is Jim Lenz, your hostand producer of the show and the
director of global training andeducation at GEAPS.
We're the mission of the GrainElevator and Processing Society
(00:27):
to champion, connect and servethe global grain industry and
our members at Jeeps.
We work to be the globalcommunity and thought leader for
the grain industry which feedsand fuels the world.
Thanks for listening today andfor joining the network of
thousands of other grainhandling and processing
professionals across the globetaking strategic steps to grow
professionally.
(00:47):
The Whole Grain Show will giveyou the competitive advantage to
work at work so you can makemore of an impact.
All right, our guest for todayis Dr Ken Hellevang.
Ken has a PhD degree inengineering, is a registered
(01:08):
professional engineer and hasobtained the academic rank of
tenured professor at NorthDakota State University.
As an extension and outreachengineer of agricultural and
biosystems engineering at NorthDakota State University, he's
provided education and technicalassistance in grain drying and
storage.
That's why it's exciting towelcome Dr Ken Hellebeng to the
(01:30):
show.
Thank you very much for yourparticipation in Whole Grain.
Dr. Ken Hellevang (01:33):
Well, it's nice to be on here with you.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (01:37):
Now to allow our listeners, Ken, to get to
know you.
At the start of the show, couldyou share with our listeners a
mantra or success quote that youlive by professionally?
Dr. Ken Hellevang (01:47):
I really enjoy what I do and that's
always a plus, and it gives mean opportunity to blend the
agriculture, which is mybackground as a youth, with
science and engineering andbring it to helping people and
(02:08):
solving problems, and that'sreally what is has energized me
during my career.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (02:14):
Started working in the family farm, is that it?
Dr. Ken Hellevang (02:17):
Right, actually it was a livestock
ranch and so transition over tograin came after I got started
in my career but had a livestockoperation that was involved
with FFA and 4-H and all of thatbackground.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (02:42):
I know you are in the around the world, but
there are also challenges beyondthe Midwest, but the Midwest is
going through.
At the time of this recording,it's been a dry winter unusually
dry in terms of moisture andsnowfall but we are going to be
talking about some things that Ithink impact a lot of people
around the world, and so,understanding spring grain
(03:04):
drying challenges.
Ken, you've highlighted theincreased risk of grain storage
problems with a warmer winterand early spring.
Could you explain to ourlisteners why this poses such a
critical issue?
Dr. Ken Hellevang (03:19):
Well, we are fortunate those of us that are
in the northern part of the USthat we have cool temperatures
during the winter, and thatenables us to store grain very
well.
When you look at what theparameters are.
Where we have good, easystorage, it's dry grain and cool
(03:43):
temperatures.
Storage, it's dry grain andcool temperatures, and so across
the northern region of the US,the cool temperatures help us to
store our grain all winter.
But then as we start cominginto late winter, early spring,
and then into summer storage,now we're faced with much warmer
(04:05):
temperatures, and thatincreases the potential for
insect infestations.
Also, if our grain is a littlebit too high in moisture content
for storage, then we see a lotof mold growth occurring, and so
that is something that itreally transitions in the spring
(04:26):
, and a lot of times I didn'twant to try to remember to
remind people that you knowwe're in this transition.
Those of us that have hadwinter are always looking
forward to spring, but that'snot a time to forget about our
stored grain.
We've got another piece, too,that we'll talk about, I think,
(04:49):
a little bit later, but as we gointo the spring, we've got a
very strong solar energycomponent that we need to take
into consideration.
It takes a lot of energy tomelt the snow and warm the cool
soils, and for a lot of thestorage region, our solar energy
(05:12):
impact is higher now than justabout any time during the year,
so spring becomes a good time tobe paying attention to things
that are really changing from astorage environment.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (05:27):
Thank you for your response.
You mentioned the significantimpact of solar heat gain on
grain bins, particularly in thespring.
How does this heat gain affectgrain storage and what steps can
be taken to mitigate itseffects?
Dr. Ken Hellevang (05:41):
Well, it's surprising to a lot of people
but at this time of year, as welook at the end of February and
into March, we're looking atmore solar heat gain on the
south wall of a bin than whatwe'll have during the summer.
Now, of course, that's due tothe high solar angle that we
(06:03):
have that in the winter it'slower and it's more impacting
that south wall.
But in addition to outsidetemperatures warming up, then we
have this solar energy that ishitting the south wall of the
bin and warming the grain that'snext to that south wall and
warming the grain that's next tothat south wall.
When we look at the solar heatgain on the bin roof, actually
(06:28):
it's not that much different inthe spring than it is in the
summer.
And so we've got all this solarenergy that is trying to warm
the grain up and what we want todo is to try to keep our grain
cool.
So we can do that as long as wehave cool outside weather and
(06:51):
we can aerate that grain.
We turn the fans on, run somecool air through the bin, cool
the grain back down, and thisyear a lot of the the US had
above normal temperatures allwinter so we might have warmer
grain at the end of the winterthis year than what we would in
(07:13):
a typical year.
So it becomes even moreimportant that we're in there
checking the temperature andknowing what the condition of
that grain is.
And knowing what the conditionof that grain is and then
running the aeration fans whenwe have cool outside
temperatures to cool that graindown.
The ideal temperature will varydepending on where you're at in
(07:39):
the world.
But here in the US, in thenorthern regions, but here in
(08:08):
the US in the northern regions,we should be able to strive to
try, because then that's belowthe threshold where we start
seeing more insect activity.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (08:13):
Now I'd love for you to talk about running
aeration fans during spring.
Can you elaborate on theimportance of this practice and
any other specificconsiderations for ventilation
to maintain optimal grainconditions?
Dr. Ken Hellevang (08:26):
Yeah, there's a couple things that come to
mind right away.
One is that controlling thegrain temperature is just as
important as controlling themoisture content.
We know that grain needs to bedry if we're going to store it,
but we can gain many benefits bykeeping the grain cool, by
(08:49):
selecting the time when we runthe aeration fan, and so the
goal, as I indicated, should beto try, in the northern part of
the US at least, to keep it 40degrees or cooler.
So we're then selecting timeswhen we have outdoor
temperatures that are coolenough so that when we run the
(09:12):
fan we're keeping it under that40 degree threshold, of course,
a goal.
Most goes without saying thatwe don't want to run it when
it's, you know, foggy or rainyor very humid conditions,
because then we're pumping thatmoisture back into the bin.
But as long as we're looking at, you know, a typical dry day,
(09:38):
yeah, the humidity at night mayend up being a little bit higher
, but generally that's notenough to cause any storage
issues.
So really, look at running thefan during the spring as needed
in order to keep the grain underthat threshold.
Then, as we go into the summer,we're going to have very
(10:01):
limited ability to find dayswhere the temperature is under
that 40 or 50 degrees, and sothen the goal is going to be to
prevent warm up in anothermanner, and the one that I
actually two points that Istress.
One is that we need to becovering the fan when it's not
(10:25):
operating, because if we have anopen fan and vents at the top
of the bin, we get a naturalchimney effect that takes place,
and so we're constantly pullingthat warm outside air in and
then it exhausts out through thebin roof.
That will warm the grain up, andso if the goal is to keep it
(10:49):
cool, we need to cover the fanwhen we're not running the fan.
The other thing is that is forlooking at warm outside
conditions.
Most people that have been inthe top of a grain bin in the
summertime know how hot it canget up there and we don't want
that heat to be warming thegrain.
(11:10):
So we need to have a way toventilate that heat out of the
bin.
That might be as easy asopenings at the eaves and at the
peak, so it'll naturallyventilate out that hot air.
Or frequently we'll see alsofans, exhaust fans put in the
(11:32):
roof and, as we're looking atstoring well into the summer.
I think it becomes moreimportant that we think about
how we're going to keep thatgrain cool by covering the fan
and maybe trying to get rid ofthat bin roof heat that is going
to warm the grain.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (11:53):
Really good points there.
Cover the fans when they're notbeing used.
Try not to bring that heat in.
Make sure things are ventilated.
In the summer with thatoverhead sun it really raises
the temperature inside there.
All this is important, and alsoimportant is monitoring storage
grain.
Could you explain why frequentmonitoring is essential and what
(12:16):
signs indicate potentialstorage problems?
Dr. Ken Hellevang (12:20):
Well, the first thing that I encourage
people to monitor is just tomake sure that the moisture
content of the grain is at theproper moisture content for
storage.
We might have had a lot of cornthat went into a bin at 15%
moisture, stored well overwinter, but that's too wet for
(12:44):
summer storage.
That's going to spoil before weget through the summer, and we
won't know that without checkingthe moisture content.
And so pulling a sample andjust verifying that the corn is
at the moisture content that wewant, or the soybeans are at the
moisture content that areneeded for summer storage, is
(13:07):
number one.
The other one is, sincetemperature is so important, we
need to monitor the temperatureprofile within that bin.
Typically, today, we're doingthat with some type of
temperature cable, and all theyare are some type of sensor that
(13:30):
is mounted on that cable andthen it gives us what the
temperature is.
Then it gives us what thetemperature is.
Sometimes people wonder well,what is the kind of magic
temperature you know, when itgets above 80, is that a problem
?
Is it get above whatever?
And really it's the trends thatare taking place that are
(13:52):
important.
We want to be making changesbefore we have problems, and so
by monitoring the temperatureprofile in the bin.
Once the temperature startsincreasing, that's an indication
either of spoilage occurringthat is producing heat, insect
(14:12):
activity that might be producingheat, and then, of course,
there will be some naturalwarming as well.
But if we have the bins sealedup, the fan covered, it's
surprising how cool that grainwill stay as we go through the
summer, and so monitoring thetemperature is so important.
(14:42):
There are new tools that peopleare starting to use, and one of
those are what is marketed asmoisture cables.
Really, what they're doing ismonitoring the relative humidity
and the temperature and thencalculating what the moisture
content will be, and that's anice tool, but it depends on the
(15:03):
accuracy of the relativehumidity measurement, and so I
encourage people check thespecifications on those cables
and see just how accurate theyare.
A lot of them will say thatthey're accurate within one plus
or minus one percentage point.
Well, corn is going to storequite a bit different at 15%
(15:30):
than it does at 14%, and sothat's why it's so important
that we cross-check it with theactual moisture meter.
Another new tool that isavailable is measuring the
carbon dioxide level, and carbondioxide is produced both by
mold and by insects.
(15:50):
It's again a nice tool.
The research has been done toshow that it can be used, but
the practical application isrelatively new and so, again, I
think it's a tool that we'relearning to use.
But where do we put the sensorand how important is a sealed
(16:13):
bin?
And there's a number of thosefactors that play into the
accuracy of that information.
So it gets back to reading themanual and making sure we
understand what it is that we'remeasuring and how accurately
it's going to depict what'sgoing on.
Temperature is the number one,easy one that we've done for
(16:39):
years.
The other one that takes alittle effort is still the
manual checking.
Go in and look, and I know weneed to be careful about grain
safety, but actually getting upin the bin and looking for
insects and checking for storageand implications of exceeding
(17:01):
these levels, sure, and I'llstart with corn.
(17:27):
I always stress and I doeducational presentations that
we market grain corn on 15.5%moisture basis, and that is fine
for winter storage as long aswe can keep it cold.
But if we're going to go intothe warm summer months where
(17:50):
we're going to be looking attemperatures of 70 degrees
rather than 40 degrees now, thecorn needs to be down at 14% or
even a little bit lower.
I usually say let's go forbetween 13 and 14% moisture if
we're intending to either storethrough the summer or if we're
(18:13):
shipping that corn where it'sgoing to end up being in a warm
environment.
Same thing occurs with soybeans.
The market moisture is 13, butif we're going to store into the
summer, warmer months, wereally need to be down between
11 and 12.
(18:34):
We've over the years said 11%is summer storage.
We're doing some research hereat North Dakota State University
that says maybe we can crowd alittle above 11, but still
somewhere in that 11 to 12%moisture is an absolute maximum
(18:54):
for warm temperatures.
Moisture is an absolute maximumfor warm temperatures.
If we shift to small grainswheat we always have talked
about 13, 13.5% moisture, andthat's because we handle wheat
typically when it's warm and sothe cereal grains end up being
(19:16):
fairly similar.
Whether we're talking corn orwheat, they're going to have
similar requirements as far asmoisture contents in order to
safely store at the warmtemperatures.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (19:37):
Now in that article I read you talked a
little bit about strategies fornatural air drying.
You've outlined specificairflow rates and moisture
content recommendations fornatural air drying of different
grains.
Could you walk us through thosestrategies a little bit and
their significance inmaintaining grain quality?
Dr. Ken Hellevang (19:53):
Yeah, and I'm going to start out with a
little bit of a qualifier thenatural air drying really
probably fits more for on-farmstorages or at elevators that
have some relatively small bins.
(20:14):
Small bins because the maximumdepth that I really encourage
people to think about doingnatural air drying is a grain
depth of about oh 21, 22 feetand there's a lot of the smaller
(20:34):
bins that fit that parameter,the smaller bins that fit that
parameter.
And if we're in that scenariothen we can do natural air
drying on corn and we'll be ableto handle up to about 21%
moisture corn.
But we need an airflow rate ofone cubic foot per minute per
(21:00):
bushel.
The reason that I say thatwe're limited to about 22 feet
is that it takes a lot of fanpower to get that amount of
airflow through something atgreater depths.
And we're running into thateven on farms today that I end
(21:20):
up helping people size bins.
That might be well.
I just did one yesterday thatwas 72 foot in diameter and 66
feet deep on a farm.
30 years ago we would havenever dreamt of that, but we're
doing it today.
That is not a drying bin.
(21:43):
That's going to be strictly forstorage and in most elevators
we're going to be looking atthose larger bins, so the
natural air drying may not fit.
Sometimes I get calls from guysthat say, well, I'm only taking
corn from 15 down to 14, Ishould be able to get by with
(22:07):
less airflow.
Unfortunately it doesn't workthat way.
We we need a lot of airflow totake out a lot of moisture, even
with one percentage point.
So the natural air drying maynot fit a whole lot for this
audience but certainly ifthey're making recommendations
(22:29):
to farmers or to others.
We say one CFM per bushel oncorn and that'll handle up to
about 21% moisture.
For soybeans it's a similarairflow, one CFM, but that'll
limit us to about 15%, maybe 16%moisture moisture For wheat
(23:01):
we're talking usually threequarters of a CFM per bushel in
moisture contents of 17, maybe18 percent moisture.
Anything above that in moisturecontent and we're really
talking about needing to move itinto a high temperature dryer.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (23:13):
Well, thank you for that, and with those
qualifying statements too,especially in considerations and
speaking with producers,farmers, from a perspective of
green elevators.
Now, all of us are concernedabout safety, as are you.
Safety is paramount.
What are some key safetyhazards associated with green
(23:34):
handling, particularly duringchallenging conditions, and how
can these risks be mitigated?
Dr. Ken Hellevang (23:42):
Well, there's several different safety
hazards that I'm going to verybriefly mention.
The one that most people thinkabout when we talk about grain
safety is grain entrapment orengulfment, where we go into a
bin and we end up submerged inthat bin of grain.
(24:05):
Up submerged in that bin ofgrain, and that typically occurs
when we're having problemsunloading the grain.
We end up with some crusting orchunks of grain and they end up
flowing down and blocking asump at the bottom of the bin or
restricting the flow of thatgrain.
(24:27):
So then somebody goes in thereand starts trying to break up
that chunk, and if the conveyingsystem is operational, they'll
end up getting sucked in.
We kind of refer to it similarto quicksand, that it only takes
just a matter of a coupleseconds and all of a sudden
(24:50):
you're into the point whereyou're trapped.
It may take 10 to 20 seconds tototally cover you up, but you
don't have time to react, and sothat is a safety hazard.
I say that you know the wholemake sure that the system is
(25:11):
shut off, lock out, tag outreally applies so that the
system doesn't automaticallycome on or somebody turn it on.
And then all of the confinedspace issues are very important
that we keep that in mind.
But there's some other hazardsthat sometimes I think we
(25:35):
overlook, and one of those isthe respiratory hazard.
Drain dust is a lung irritantis a lung irritant, and so I
strongly encourage people towear a dust mask if they're
working around grain to protecttheir lungs, to protect the
(25:56):
respiratory system.
And that becomes even moreimportant if we have a problem
here, because usually thosechunks or the problem is
associated with mold growth andinhaling mold spores, just tiny,
microscopic particles, but theythey get into your system and
(26:21):
they can cause a lot of damage.
They it might be a very rapidallergic reaction.
If it's a large dosage it mightbe a long-term lung incapacity.
I encourage people to wear anN95 rated mask so that we're
(26:44):
making sure that we're filteringthe air that comes in.
And then, last but not least, isa lot of our bins have some
type of sweep system or take outauger at the bottom, and people
need to be extremely cautiousaround them because, again, the
(27:09):
power that they have, themagnitude of the equipment is
such that if we slip and ourfoot gets in there,
unfortunately it's gone, and Ihear reports of people getting
caught in the takeout augersbleeding to death, you know, if
(27:33):
they happen to be in there bythemselves, it's just a hazard
that we need to keep in mind,and so those are the three that
I typically talk about.
I think most people are awareof the hazards, but sometimes we
just need to be reminded thatit is important to take care of
ourselves and those that areworking with us.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (27:55):
Well, thank you very much for bringing up those
safety concerns, something weall need to be very mindful of
and not have the mentality of,oh, it's never going to happen
to me, it's never going tohappen to our organization
Understanding why it isimportant for all of these, from
lockout takeout to justcommunication with the team.
(28:16):
I encourage listeners to reallyconnect with past episodes.
We have some compellingepisodes on safety and green
elevators, so check those out.
Ken, you've been wonderful forsharing these valuable insights
into proper spring grain dryingand storage practices.
It's been enlighteningdiscussion.
(28:36):
I'm sure our listeners have alot learned and gained from your
expertise.
Before we go, I want to giveyou an opportunity to share any
means for listeners to connectwith you, connect with your
organization and for any youngerlisteners who are joining the
show.
Why is this an industry?
(28:59):
That would be exciting and, inmany cases, innovative for those
looking to pursue this space.
Dr. Ken Hellevang (29:05):
Well, I'll probably talk about the last
point first, and that is I thinkthere's lots of opportunities
in agriculture in a wholespectrum of different levels.
Certainly, farming today is notwhat it used to be.
We're working with largeequipment and a lot of
(29:26):
technology, a lot ofsophistication that didn't exist
20, 30 years ago, and sothere's a lot of opportunities
there.
And we get into agribusinesswith the elevators.
There's a lot of opportunitieswhether you've got more of a
(29:47):
business focus or if you havemore of the equipment technology
area.
There's lots of opportunities.
And then I even am starting toget close to retiring myself and
you start thinking, okay, who'sgoing to replace me?
And I think that there areopportunities out there for
(30:11):
people that have more of ascience focus or engineering
focus, whether it be with auniversity or with industry.
There's some of the majorcompanies I know that employ
people that have this kind ofexpertise, and so I think
(30:47):
there's a range of opportunitiesof doing an overview of some of
the key topics.
I typically will refer back tosomeone that thought that they
kind of knew everything aboutgrain storage and drying and
that they could do all of it, doa presentation by themselves,
(31:11):
and then they listened tosomebody like me talk for a
while and started realizing thatyou know there's a lot more to
this than what I think.
But what makes it kind ofinteresting and challenging is
that I frequently say in mypresentations that I'll focus a
lot on the fundamentals, and thereason that I do that is that
(31:37):
each year ends up beingdifferent.
Mother Nature may give us a dryyear, it may give us a wet year
, cold year, warm year Eachharvest ends up being different,
and each year handling thisgrain ends up being different.
So then we take that basicfundamental knowledge that we
(31:58):
have and we're able to apply itand maximize the economic
investment that we have, thatwe're able to maintain the
quality of the grain, eitherthrough the drying system or the
storage environment, and soit's one that, when you start
(32:19):
looking at, I guess what makesme encouraged is the ability to
work with a whole variety ofdifferent types of grains and
technology, and then, if weapply it appropriately, we end
up with success at the end.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (32:36):
I like it.
I like it.
Thank you very much.
I appreciate that.
In fact, on behalf of theentire team at the Green
Elevator and Processing SocietyJeeps, we express our gratitude
to you, dr Ken Hellevang, forsharing your insights and
expertise in providing a lastinglegacy to advancing the grain
industry.
We thank you so much.
Dr. Ken Hellevang (32:56):
You're welcome.
Jim Lenz, GEAPS (32:56):
And thank you for listening to this episode of
Whole Grain.
Whole Grain is a production ofGEAPS, the Grain Elevator and
Processing Society.
GEAPS is the largestorganization dedicated to
advancing the grain handling andprocessing industry.
Be sure to check out thewebsite jeepscom.
That's g-e-a-p-scom.
Continue listening, share thenews of the show with your
(33:17):
friends and colleagues.
Have yourself a great day andthanks for listening to Whole
Grain.
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