Moving on, how dry should your corn be before you start harvesting? Jason Webster’s tackling that question at Precision Planting’s PTI Farm. He says 24-26% is looking like the sweet spot so far in their Phantom Yield Loss Study. 

“I’m $7.64 an acre ahead at 26% then 24% corn. If I let corn get down to 19%, I’m over $10 ahead. There are a lot of folks that let their corn dry down because they don’t want to pay charges, but I’m actually losing $30 an acre by doing that.”

“The numbers say right now at the PTI Farm, granted it’s only been 2 years, if we have a grain dryer on the farm, 24-26% corn has been the sweet spot for us. And we’re going to stay there until the numbers prove us otherwise.”

“I do think it’s interesting looking at the overall dollar advantages of on-farm drying vs. going to my local grain elevator. I’m $54 to $66 ahead by drying my own corn and not paying the excess shrink charges. That’s pretty significant. Even letting it go down to 16% corn; that’s $11 an acre advantage by me drying corn up here at the farm.” 

Webster says next year will be important because it will be the third year of the trial, which will give them a nice set of data to make a more definitive conclusion. 

Watch the full version of this episode of Conservation Ag Update.