I posted that we had a load rejected yesterday at our end user They reject anything over 8% VOM
Because we had so many acres affected with VOM, in Ontario, {which is poisonous to livestock] all loads are tested at every place that buys corn, before you dump the load
Every buyer has a similiar level of discounts etc for VOM
Well:
Today we took some corn [a lot] out of that load and then loaded from a different bin. It tested .9% VOM [well below the thresshold of 3%]
Thern we went back to those same bins and all loads tested well below 3%, all day, as have all loads delivered to any buyer, all spring
So:
Why did one load test so high. We do not know. We will never know but we are just very relieved to know our corn is testing well below the threshold, from all bins thus far. Kind of a pain and expense to truck that load back home. Round trip for nothing plus a lost delivery slot.
Not the end of the world, just one more risk in this biz.
We really are at the mercy of the market in so many ways
At least our corn is clean with no discounts
I feel for the folks that lost corn due to VOM or are taking big discounts.
However, I know the buyer is also on pins and needles hoping they do not mess up and have DDGS that nobody will buy due to a mistake during testing
The testing is not an exact science with no two samples done differently getting the same result
So: I guess the buyer has their risk also
Nobody wanted this VOM mess to happen, in Ontario
Glad that the rest of your corn tested outstanding Wayne.
Strange the one load was so high. Could the vomatoxin spread real bad on just one section that was infected from being wet?
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/vomitoxin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vomitoxin
In our location, that being Ontario, almost all corn is dried with a corn drier and heat [Propane or NG]
We run at 210 degrees of heat
We use propane as NG is not available
We start harvest at 28% as we grow full season varieties and have to start early, or snow starts to fall. before we finish. Thus the reason why we have to have a reliable combine. Trust me. wet snow is no fun. Corn may be 21% when we finish. Our climate does not field dry corn worth a darn. Plus dry corn at harvest lends itself to field loss which helps to pay the propane bill. 3-4 bu of corn on the ground dries a lot of corn.
It is possible, some corn slipped into that bin wetter than it was supposed to bel
But our corn drier monitors the moisture coming out of the drier
We have set up the system so we can see the moisture level of the corn coming out of the drier in real time right in our house, on a lap top. As can my son on his telephone screen. from the field during the day. He sleeps at nitee and we monitor the drier during the nite
We run 24/7 unless it rains too much and the soil is mud or we will rut the field or compact the soil. We also have a continuous ticker tape of moisture recorded in black and white, every few minutes,[not sure how often, maybe every 10 minutes recorded on the tape] We use that to mark the moisture level of each bin as some are drier than others/ We do this so we can blend once we find out the moisture next spring in each bin. We do not want to over dry but still keep it no higher than 16% with some below 15.5% It takes time and yrs to learn what moisture will keep in the bin for how long. Mothing is worse than to over dry corn. That is lost bu that can never be recovered. Thus some different moisture levels to allow blending for the proper moisture level at the end user. We can air dry corn in the spring but we can not put moisture back in the corn. But too wet is disaster also, as the corn goes out of condition very quickly, thus the yrs of trial and error to learn what will work best
We paid good money to install this system but beats us having to go and do a test of moisture during the cold of mid nite [2 A:M 4 A:M 6 A:M etc. is darn cold and sleepy]
We can just set the alarm and see from our kitchen what the moisture level is, going into the bin, We do have to go over to the drier and make changes manually, if required which does happen when a new field starts to go thru the drier. Otherwise if the same variety from the same field, the corn is within a couple points of moisture for the entire farm. It seems to blend out in the wet bin to within a point or so.
So; With all these safe guards to monitor the corn going into the bin the idea was to eliminate the possibility of wet corn ever getting into a bin, which did happen in the past.
But things can happen
Murphys law and maybe we did have a wet spot in the bin that is gone by now
Wow, that was extremely enlightening Wayne. I hardly knew anything about drying corn until your post.
That was better than wikepedia!
1 kernel of vom in a sample can mess things up. Really small sample, and it represents 1500 bushels. We are years behind Europe in dealing with this.
THANK YOU FOR RESPONSE....
.... i REPLIED EARLIER WITHOUT SEEING THE REPLY THREAD ....
.... SENDING SUNNY WEATHER YOUR WAY
Sorry to hear that "Glass-Packs" ....
==== How Is The Sweet Corn plantings/estimations .... ??? .... AND "MAtoRS" ???
Port of Hamilton is shipping corn up to 8 % vom with minimal discounts
Some years ago I had a load rejected took it around the block, ate lunch, and took it back and it passed .