Corn School: Vent Placement Crucial for Drying Success

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Where are the vents located on your grain bins?

If they’re too low, you could comprise grain quality by creating a pool of hot, moist, dead air at the top of the bin that can rain on your grain. You can learn how to avoid this problem and properly place vents when you check out Part 2 of Real Agriculture’s Corn School grain drying series with agronomist Peter Johnson and Ontario’s drying guru Helmut Speiser, below.

Check out Grain Drying Tips With Helmut Speiser, Part 1

“You would think that everybody would know how to place a vent properly,” says a perplexed Johnson. But it’s very common for vents to be placed in the strangest places – some even peek over the edge of the bin. “That’s the absolute worst place” to put a vent, says Speiser.

In this video, Speiser explains that bins less that 42 feet in diameter should have vents placed as high up to the roof as possible. One ring of vents will do the job. “But as we get into larger bins, which is what we are seeing, 48 feet or larger, you may need multiple rings of vents.”

Speiser adds that the first set of vents, those on the lower part of the roof, should not be closer than six feet to the eave. The second ring of vents should be placed as tight to the top of the bin as possible.

Speiser and Johnson also tackle the subject of power vents and whether they can solve poor bin ventilation caused by incorrect vent placement. Speiser’s verdict: farmers shouldn’t need them if the vents are placed properly.

Click here for more Corn School episodes.

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