Elevator corn weights, wet bushels and such.

Ok, I know this was talked about a bit the other day but. One elevator I banked alot of corn at, with 55.5-57# test weights and 18.2-21% moisture. I cant figure out what the did, their net bushels is off from what I think it should be. OK, there is the (gross wight-tare weight)=net weight(-moisture weight). So this gives me the total weight of dry corn bushels, right? So what they do is divide this weight by 56#, right?? The result should be the bushels I have banked , correct? Every slip I go through, when I divide the net dry weight by the bushels credited for that load, it comes up at 59.5#. Am I missing something here? Are the screwing me outa 350#"s of corn for every 1000 bushels I am banking? I checked my slips from GoldnPlump, and they all come back with 56# for their figures. I dont get it. Drying costs are billed to my account rather than taken from the corn stored at the place in question. If this is standard I can feel better, but to me it doesnt seem right. I was gonna haul in 2300 more bushel to store but not sure I want to now. Have a freind that says he will buy all I have for $3.50 since I have lower moisture and better test weights than anything he has.

You never mentioned shrinkage. I suspect that is where the discrepency is. Just go back and ask them as there should be a simple answer for you.

They pay on dry weight here. And that's after shrink of 1.4% per point of moisture above 15%. So your 1000 bushels of 20% corn gets paid for as 930 bushels of 15% corn. Then you pay for drying, probably about 4 cents a point per bushel.

If you sold the corn its figured at 15%, if you stored the corn its figured at 14% so 1000 pounds of 20% corn stores as 916 pounds of 14% corn.

So 1000 pounds was 17.857 bushels wet, but 16.607 bushels at 15% or 16.357 bushels at 14%.

Or 1000 bushels wet is 930 bushels at 15%, 916 bushels at 14%. This wet year its a cost of selling corn. Some people delivered 27% or wetter corn. The shrink and drying really cut their income.

Gerald J.

Shrink, I would imagine. They figure drying 1% of moisture out will reduce the corn by 1.4%. Many who dry on the farm think the actual real shrink is more like 1.2%, so if you're big enough to dry a lot on-farm you can gain that .2% over the years.

--->Paul

Last year we broke the 200 bu. per/acre barrier for the first time here. So I hauled 8 loads to the local elevator at harvest that I didn't have room for, wet, right out of the field. I had no quarrel with their drying charge. However I didn't like their shrinkage. I have an old chart here that I use. They obviously have a chart or calculation much more in their favor. Plus I don't know if they "shrunk" it to 15.5%, or the more typical 14% buyers seem to like here. I lost several tons on paper just that easy!

I never could understand shrink. Everybody, the producer, the elevator, the prossesor. Everybody buys and sells corn by weight so whats the differance what the shrink is.

Removing 1% moisture is 1.18% shrink. The elevator figures 0.22% per point is handling shrink. Ground corn in the augers, spills, and the like, and the grousers figure its extra elevator profit.

Gerald J.

Gerald has once again covered it precisely. If you sell the corn it is dried and shrunk to 15%. If you store(bank)it the corn will be dried and shrunk to 14%.

Standard commercial shrink is 1.4% per point of moisture, the actual physical shrink is about 1.2% and the rest is attributed to handling shrink. That .2% will show up for the elevator down the road as an FM or damage dock, especially this year with the lower quality corn that is coming in.