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| Look ag putting 250,000 bushel pile on farm this year. Like to hear from people that have done this and any ideas for me. So far my idea is fill pile will dry cool corn from grain bin. Will be lime pack. Thought of inline wrapping round bales for walls in a circle. Pile would be filled early November and gone by end of March or earlier. At the moment i am unsure if i should cover it. Any thoughts would be great thanks.
Edited by Antreis 8/16/2018 19:27
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KS and NE in eastern 3rd | Where is your location, would help to answer the tarp question. Here I would tarp it but out west they sometimes don't. 250k is a lot of corn in 1 pile so if I were doing it I would want some way to monitor temperature and have some aeration tubes in place in case I needed to get some air through it. |
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NW central IL | That’s a big first pile, big mistake if you don’t hit it right the first time... |
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| I am east central Iowa |
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SC Iowa | your first chances for success came when you said "cool, dry corn" going into it
improves the odds greatly
good luck |
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Watkinsville, GA | You think the the wrapped bales will stay put with the pressure of the corn? Dry or wet bales? Thinking wet balage would work better |
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n.c.iowa | I’d forget the bales. Gonna build it with a auger, or drop pipe from a leg? |
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| As bad is the crop is in the I states and MN you wont need a pile you should have plenty of bin room. We normally pile corn at 14 to 15 percent here and it will keep with very little edge mold until mid march easy for us. We still have elevators in our area with corn on the ground after about 20 inches of rain this summer in there area and it is starting to look like crap. |
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| Planning on using an auger. |
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| Was going to use grass bales or corn stalk bales and put double if not 3x as much wrap on. I am concerned about the bails busting apart as well. I heard of guys using bales and putting a cable around them. |
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finney county, ks | Buy a grain bagger put on 500 ft bags maybe 12ft ones you will sleep better |
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n.c.iowa | Probably gonna have have a windrow pile, try to minimize valleys between piles. |
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Fairbury, NE (Southeast) | Elevator has put up a 400-600k pile for the last few years. They windrow the pile, use a 95 ft auger, probably get 30 ft high. They used to put plastic on it and run fans in reverse and got along good. Last 4-5 years just bare pile. Two years ago they probably had 3-4% damage, last year less than 1% with little to no december precip. But they pick it up By Jan 15. I would pile say half of what you are thinking and haul the rest to town. That is a large amount of bushels at risk.
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Southwest Iowa | I wouldn't mess with the bales either. 9 years ago, we had a 35K bushel pile and lined 3of the sides with round bales. We put corn on the pile the first couple days of December and cleaned it up by the end of January. We had above normal snow fall in that time frame and even though it was relatively cold during that stretch, any corn that went out of condition was located along the bales. If I remember correctly, it amounted to 3-5% of the total business. |
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Northwest Illinois | The first pile I ever made was 220000 bushel. I used an 80' swing away with a spout on end. The diameter of the first pile was around 60' and was roughly 60000 bushel before it would cover the truck on the auger. The pile was 200' from end to end. We covered it with silage tarps as they were the cheapest. I never used any thing in sides and used loader buckets of corn to keep tarp down then ran tires on tarp seems. I only kept until river close which was second week in December. Spoilage was minimal, but had some at seams and bottom. Hardly got docked as it was easily blended in. We received quite a bit of rain and snow, so covering was a must here. |
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Cambridge, southwestern Nebraska | Local coop piles millions of bushels on the ground every year. They put an aeration tube on the ground in the middle of the pile and run it constantly to hold the tarps down. 16% corn or dryer right out of the field. Piles are picked up by early March.
Local ethanol plant piles corn uncovered and just cleaned it up a month or so ago. It did not end up in very good shape.
A farmer piled 3 hundred thousand on the ground a couple of years ago. Didn't get it picked up until late April. Probably lost 10,000 bushel.
It can be done. I'd cover it if I were you in your higher rainfall area. Otherwise pick it up by early spring....March 1. |
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Cambridge, southwestern Nebraska | Word of caution...don't bury the wheels on the auger very deep before you pull it ahead. |
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Southeast PA | I would forget about the roundbales. They won't let you pile very much higher, and will be more of a pain to deal with. Plus I think that will give rats and other critters more places to burrow, chew and rip the plastic up, then the bales rot and you have that mess to deal with. |
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west central indiana | get you a bagger. probably pay for it quick with that much grain and maybe do some custom bagging |
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western iowa,by Denison | Cattle feeders are your friend Please retain my phone number-we like to buy $2 corn with a chance to make it worth $2.10 |
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| I have a 100,000bu ring I'd sell cheap. |
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n.c.iowa | You’re just bad. |
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Sac & Story county IA | A good stand of grass will have the soil underneath as dry as anything. Better than concrete or asphalt. Be prepared to be flexible if nature doesn't cooperate. Be prepared to move pile, quick. |
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God's Country (N.C. Ia) | Any chance you would be better off leaving it stand in the field? |
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MN | 250,000 is a big pile for on the farm.
If you add the costs of making the pile (site prep as well), tarps aren't free, spoilage and reclaim... how much are you going to save over commercial storage ??? My guess at BEST... 5-6 cents?
So, are you willing to risk 250,000 bushels of corn going out of condition for a 5-6 cent upside?
Piles are useful and have their place but they can be a real PIA.
If you do decide to pile, absolutely do not use round bales for a wall. |
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| The spread is about 30 to 35 cent were I am with basis. Commercial storage is 15 in 15 cents out or sale through coop. Time savings in fall is also a huge value instead of waiting in line when I should be harvesting. Cost of pile construction will be minimal i believe. I figure at 30 cents i could endure alot of damage before i go backwards. |
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Big Sky Country | E718 - 8/17/2018 08:56
A good stand of grass will have the soil underneath as dry as anything. Better than concrete or asphalt. Be prepared to be flexible if nature doesn't cooperate. Be prepared to move pile, quick.
I agree. Important to run lawn mower over it for easy clean up. Worst thing you can do is put plastic under. |
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MN | 30 cents for commercial storage ?
going to cost AT LEAST 10-15 cents to pile and reclaim. Tractor/Loader hours, tarps, discounts, etc...
Dont get me wrong corn is very tough and can withstand alot. Corn gets piled every year so it can be done. I've just done enough of them that it wouldn't be worth the headache and risk for me to do it.
With 250k bushels I'd call around and get a push for a harvest basis or try and negotiate my storage lower instead. But thats me!
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southern MN | But made me smile.
Paul |
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CIL | red1962 - 8/17/2018 07:06
get you a bagger. probably pay for it quick with that much grain and maybe do some custom bagging
+1 especially if you are running dry corn into it.
Or if the payback after all the headache if 5 or 6 cents, sell off the combine and buy a call.
Edited by WTF2014 8/17/2018 16:44
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ncia | Location?? I don't think uncovered corn piles are ever a good idea. too much rain and snow in north iowa. Last year our coop location got lucky and picked it up about a month after piling. No redrying and no damage. that doenst happen every year. |
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Eastern Iowa | We have done on farm corn piles in the past but on a much smaller scale, filled an old concrete bunker silo and really worked well, always covered with a silo tarp if leaving outside for more than a month. Can't buy a rain right now but set an auger and start piling corn outside and it will be raining within 48 hours, recommend finding a way to cover. Agree with others forget the bales. Although more work you might consider setting up several bin rings in smaller piles to limit your risk. Saw an ad last week selling used bin rings for a 60' circle on Craig's list for $50/sheet - was either Des Moines or Cedar Rapids Craig's list. |
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Corn pile any suggestions
