C.O.R.N. Newsletter: 2020-02

Managing stored grain throughout the winter is an important part of your grain marketing plan for farm profitability. This winter we are already receiving reports of stored grain going out of condition, which can lower the value and be a hazard to those working around the grain facility. At a minimum, stored grain that has gone out of condition can cause health hazards, especially when grain dust contains mold and bacteria. Out of condition grain can also form a crust or stick to the bin walls and if someone enters the bin for any reason an entrapment could occur. For more information on safety when working around grain visit http://go.osu.edu/AFM and listen to episode 41 of the podcast on grain bin safety.

Too many of us know the scare of a close call with grain entrapment but lived to tell the story. Even if it was just in a wagon or a truck while unloading wet grain, the fear is real. Unfortunately, it does not always stop us from entering a bin without the proper safety equipment. To help raise awareness of the dangers of working around stored grain, Champaign County will be showing a screening of the movie SILO on February 6 at 6pm at the Gloria Theater in Urbana. SILO is “inspired by true events, SILO follows a harrowing day in an American farm town. Disaster strikes when teenager Cody Rose is entrapped in a 50-foot-tall grain bin. When the corn turns to quicksand, family, neighbors and first responders must put aside their differences to rescue Cody from drowning in the crop that has sustained their community for generations.” RSVP at https://silourbana.eventbrite.com.    

While even grain in good quality can be hazardous, maintaining grain quality can help keep you safe. This year’s grain is presenting increased challenges due to more fines during harvest, warm fall temperatures making it difficult to cool grain properly, and higher moisture grain due to the crop being drought or frost killed. This premature killing of the crop before maturity can cause our moisture tester to read drier than the crop really is. With this in mind, being sure to monitor your bins this winter will be very important. Three keys to managing grain this winter include monitoring bins every two weeks, properly cooling grain, and, if you haven't already done so, coring bins very soon. 

Monitoring Bins

When monitoring bins be sure to watch for insect activity or condensation forming on the inside roof of the bin. Monitor the temperature of the grain. Ideal winter stored grain temperature is 35°F, which is obtained through proper cooling. Temperature can be monitored with a long thermometer but there are also cable-monitoring systems that can do a much better job at monitoring entire bin temperatures and catching the hot spots caused by spoilage and insect activity.

Coring Bins

The most common area for spoilage is the center because of an increased concentration of fines restricting air movement. During the winter, cooling process bins should be cored to remove 90% of the fines. To properly core a bin, remove the entire peak creating a funnel shape inside. A proper core funnel starts at the bin wall, not part way up the current peak.

Cooling Grain

Most grain spoilage is a result of storing grain at too warm of temperatures over the winter, so cooling and keeping the grain cool is critical. Over the past two days we have had some excellent weather for cooling stored grain and should have more favorable weather within a few weeks. Look for days with no precipitation when the outside air temperature is 10-15°F cooler than the temperature of the grain. The goal is not to freeze the grain, just cool it to the point that insect activity and mold growth is slowed or stopped (35-40°F). The amount of time it takes to move a cooling front through the bin depends on the cfm/bu of the fan. For most bins, this is between 1 to 4 days but some may take longer. If you know the cfm of your fan for winter cooling use the equation hours=(20/cfm/bu).

While this article barely touches the surface of stored grain management, more information can be found in a recent webinar from Dr. Kenneth Hellevang of North Dakota: https://go.osu.edu/StoredGrain.  With the importance of stored grain management we also recently hosted Dr. Kenneth Hellevang on episode 42 of our Agronomy and Farm Management podcast at: http://go.osu.edu/AFM.

The 2019 eFields Research Report is now available online or in a hardcopy version.  2019 was a challenging year for many farmers including the eFields team but despite the challenges, the team was able to grow. The 2019 report covers 88 on-farm, field scale trials conducted in 30 Ohio counties. and provides information on a variety of topics including new studies.  Here is a list of some of the 2019 study topics and pages you can read about their results:

• Nitrogen 4Rs: pages 48-63
• Fungicide and Insecticide: pages 38-39, 104-109
• Cover Crops: pages 156-158 and 202
• Forages: pages 154-185
• Ag Tech: pages 186-197
• Crop Production Budgets: pages 26-31
• Ohio Planting Progress: page 22
• 2018 Farm Bill: page 32

The e-version of the 2019 eFields report can be viewed or downloaded at go.osu.edu/eFields.  To receive a printed copy, contact your local OSU Extension office or email digitalag@osu.edu.  We hope you find the information insightful and a resource for crop production.

The eFields team has also planned 6 regional meetings to discuss results from local and state-wide research trials.  We also use these meetings to gather feedback about research interests for 2020. There is no cost to attend; for more information or to register for a meeting, visit go.osu.edu/eFieldsMeeting. Please plan to join us for the meeting nearest you:

• • Southwest Region: February 10^th, 9AM-12PM, Wilmington
  • Northwest Region: February 26^th, 9AM-12PM, Bryan
  • Central Region: February 27^th, 9AM-12PM,
  • South Central Region: March 9^th, 9AM-12PM, Circleville
  • East Region: March 10^th, 6-9PM, Coshocton
  • West Central Region: March 16^th, 9AM-12PM, Piqua

We would like to sincerely thank all of our 2019 collaborating farms and industry partners. The eFields team enjoys working with each of you and we are looking forward to continuing to learn together in 2020.

Follow our social media using @OhioStatePA on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram or subscribe to our quarterly newsletter, Digital Ag Download (go.osu.edu/DigitalAgDownload), to keep up with the eFields program throughout the year. For more information on how to get involved in eFields in 2019, contact Elizabeth Hawkins at hawkins.301@osu.edu.

A large number of Ohio farmers hire machinery operations and other farm related work to be completed by others. This is often due to lack of proper equipment, lack of time or lack of expertise for a particular operation.  Many farm business owners do not own equipment for every possible job that they may encounter in the course of operating a farm and may, instead of purchasing the equipment needed, seek out someone with the proper tools necessary to complete the job. This farm work completed by others is often referred to as “custom farm work” or more simply “custom work”. A “custom rate” is the amount agreed upon by both parties to be paid by the custom work customer to the custom work provider.

Custom farming providers and customers often negotiate an agreeable custom farming machinery rate by utilizing Extension surveys results as a starting point. Ohio State University Extension collects surveys and publishes survey results from the Ohio Farm Custom Survey every other year. This year we are updating our published custom farm rates for Ohio.

We need your assistance in securing up-to-date information about farm custom work rates, machinery and building rental rates and hired labor costs in Ohio.

This year we have an online survey set up that anyone can access. We would ask that you  respond even if you know only a few rates.  We want information on actual rates, either what you paid to hire custom work or what you charged if you perform custom work. Custom Rates should include all ownership costs of implement & tractor (if needed), operator labor, fuel and lube. If fuel is not included in your custom rate charge there is a place on the survey to indicate this.

You may access the survey at: ohio farm custom rates survey 2020

Or: https://osu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7WN0eNQz3VO41nv

The deadline to complete the survey is March 31, 2020.