Storing your wheat?

Every year we pickup wheat on-farm and take it to a flour mill, and it gets rejected at 14.5% moisture. The Farmer then argues “That is impossible I put it into the bin at 13.5% moisture.”

Unfortunately, that scenario is common, not impossible.

Most wheat comes out of the field at 85°F-90°F, therefore you need to be sure to run your fans and cool it down. If you plan to store the wheat through the winter you should aim to cool it down to 40°F to prevent spoilage and insect activity.

However, you must use caution when running air on your wheat. Not all air is beneficial! You must monitor what kind of environment the combination of temperature and humidity is producing inside your bin.

At Howlett Farms we store over a million bushels of wheat for several months every year. And we follow the chart below religiously. We have had great results year after year.

How to use this chart: Check the local weather to get your humidity and temperature (and forecasted humidity and temperature if running the fans overnight) and follow the corresponding Row/Column to find the moisture content of the air. If the fans run for an extended period of time your wheat will decrease or increase in moisture to the Equilibrium Air Content. The moisture content of your wheat will migrate to or towards the equilibrium moisture content of the air you are pumping into the bin.

BEWARE: If the air is 50°F and 75% humidity (common during Fall nights) you are actually HYDRATING the wheat in your bin to 14.5% moisture, and it will likely be rejected at the destination.