Managing for Profit

Farmer touts drying with propane

Harvest is over for White Cloud, Kansas corn grower Ken McCauley, who believes in getting corn out sooner rather than later with the help of a corn dryer.

“The propane was expensive, but it paid,” McCauley told Brownfield Ag News.  “I’m really glad we [used it to dry corn].”

For McCauley, who farms in the far northeast corner of Kansas, putting heat to the corn had a positive impact on profitability, at least in this case.

He quickly points out the merit of allowing corn to dry down in the field, but this year he combined it earlier with no regrets.

McCauley’s harvest average was close to 220 bushels to the acre.  “The propane bill was in the range of ten cents a bushel,” he said.

He maintains that there is less shrink when the corn is harvested at a high moisture and dried with a dryer versus letting it dry on the stalk.

AUDIO: Ken McCauley (3 min. MP3)