Agricultural experts say starting Friday morning, there will be great conditions to get grain cooled down from this falls harvest. With the average daily temps predicted to be in the mid 30s to low 40s for Friday well into next week, this will be a perfect time to get recently harvested corn and soybeans cooled to a temperature close to what is desired for winter storage. Allowable storage time for grain roughly doubles for every 10 degree drop in temperature. So, getting grain cooled down soon after harvest will significantly improve chances of keeping it in good condition while in storage

In order to determine how long it will take to cool a bin of grain, first determine how much fan horsepower you have per 1000 bushels. For example, if you have a 5 horsepower fan on a 20,000 bushel bin, you have one-quarter horsepower per 1,000 bushels. Divide that number into 15 and you get an estimate of the hours it will take to cool the full bin. In this case example, 15 / 0.25 = 60 hours.

Experts urge producers to get that great crop cooled down for the best storage this winter!