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Drying Sunflower in Late October
The moisture holding capacity of air is directly related to the air temperature. The moisture holding capacity of air at 50F is twice that of the air at 30F. Therefore, it will take twice as long to dry at 30F as it would at 50F. Drying in the field or in the bin will be much slower at cooler temperatures.
Freezing grain does not result in drying. Typically when temperatures are freezing at night, the air is dry during the day. For example at 100% relative humidity at 25F will only have a relative humidity of about 38% when heated to 50F. This low humidity level with a nice breeze dries grain well. This higher humidity level along with the cool air temperatures, results in very slow drying.
Harvested grain can be stored during the fall and winter at fairly high moisture contents if it is kept cool using aeration. The allowable storage time doubles for each 10 degrees that the grain is cooled. Corn at 22% moisture can be stored for 190 days at 30 degrees, but only 60 days at 40 degrees. Aeration fans should be operated to cool the grain to near freezing as quickly as possible. The grain can be cooled later to 20-25F for winter storage.
An airflow rate of 0.75 cfm/bu will dry oil sunflower to about 10% moisture in about 30 days with normal October conditions of 47F and 65% RH. At the average November temperature of 27F, the drying will take about 60 days. Sunflower can be cooled to about 20-25F for winter storage and dried in the spring, starting the drying fan when daily average temperatures are about 40F. Debris that becomes very dry and combustible is the primary cause for fires while drying sunflower in a high temperature dryer. Thoroughly cleaning the dryer periodically will reduce the risk of dryer fires.
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