Drying maize safely: the moisture target that matters

Maize usually comes off the land at around 18 to 24 percent moisture, which is far too wet to store. For safe storage it needs to come down to roughly 12.5 percent, a little lower for long-term bulk storage and a touch higher if it is going into bags. Much above 14 percent and you are inviting mould, heating and weevils.

The other side of the trade is over-drying. Every point of moisture you take out below the target is weight, and grain is sold by weight, so drying to 11 percent instead of 12.5 percent is money handed back. The aim is to hit the target, not to beat it.

A continuous-flow dryer takes wet grain in at one end and delivers it dried to target at the other, steadily, rather than drying one batch at a time. That matters at harvest, when everything arrives at once and grain left sitting wet is a spoilage risk by the day.

ROC continuous-flow dryers are built around throughput and the fuel you have, with options from around 8 to 16 tonnes an hour and setups for maize, wheat and soya as well as crops like macadamia, paprika and onions.

A dryer is only as good as the grain flow around it. Augers move grain between trailers, dryers and silos without hammering the kernels, and a sensible layout keeps wet and dry grain from crossing. Plan the handling with the dryer, not after it.