Last Year Came Back To Haunt Us - Selling Corn

We start selling corn out of the 20,000 bushel Sioux drying bin at the main farm. Since none of the corn we harvested last fall came off the field below 19% moisture, we had to dry down the corn in the bins. After we dried the Sioux grain bin, the stirators were not able to reach the walls of the bin which resulted in the wet corn molding in a thin ring around the outside.
Subscribe to How Farms Work ► bit.ly/XYVvDd
How Farms Work Store ► www.HowFarmsWork.com/store.html
Facebook ► on. YpS8oH
Follow us on Snapchat: ► / howfarmswork
Become a Member! ➤ / @howfarmswork
Business Inquiries: [e-mail]
Summer Schedule
Our schedule may vary, but expect a new video every Wednesday. Friday, and Sunday at 11AM Central!
How Farms Work by Ryan Kuster is a KZbin channel based in rural Potosi, Wisconsin.
Our mission is to teach those who didn't grow up on a farm what the farming life is like.
These videos show the Kuster family working together raising cattle and crops. We believe everyone who wants to know more about farming should be able to share the farming experience with us and we look to educate the world on many essential agriculture topics.
How Farms Work takes place on ~1,100 acres with around 75-200 cattle at any given time. Four John Deere tractors are currently used on the farm, which are a 4020, 4640, 7600, and 8235R.

[@chrishuston1451]

In Dubuque. You're exactly right. I pray hard for them to be close. If you get pulled in your in trouble no matter what you think is good.

[@rempellegacyranch4965]

shoutout to CP, representing Canada down south haha

[@tbix1963]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and adventures. Great to see what you have been up to. Glad the damage was minimal. Stay safe, wishing you and your family the best.

[@TheChaosJohnson]

Wow! You caught the CP Air Force heritage unit!

[@redbovine]

On our corn we run the fans on the coldest nights we can to get the temp down. We have got it on nights in the single digit temps. When we hauled out the corn was 36 degrees in march. Its hard for cold corn to mold.

[@lukestrawwalker]

Yep what the BIL does to corn he's keeping til spring to sell on the farm... dry it down, run the fan a couple days to cool it (aerate it) THEN shut the stirrators off, then as soon as they get COLD weather, turn the fan on again for a day or so to FREEZE the corn... then in spring, to prevent it from condensing on the sheet metal walls, as soon as they get a day just above freezing behind a norther with LOW humidity, turn the fan on a day or so to THAW the corn and aerate it again... then it's ready to go out of the bin with VERY LITTLE moisture damage or mold on the walls... Later! OL J R :)

[@jesses1847]

Tires all need atleast 100psi and when you grease the 5th wheel as you back up to trailer drop air pressure in truck back under trailer lift up then back into trailer otherwise like in video you slid all the grease off the 5th

[@allanlee5817]

Solar panel on the cab roof to trickle charge the batteries and lanolin based spray everything that's exposed to prevent rust and sun damage

[@ivancasiano3882]

Hey Ryan when u back up next time to ur trailer with ur 5th wheel greased up pull to the trailer drop ur bags back up into the trailer to were the 5th wheel gets underneath the trailer then u fill ur bags back up n that prevents from the grease from getting scrapped by the trailer when u bak up to it keep up to great videos

[@farming4g]

Ever thinking about getting one of those nylon plates for the 5th wheel? Think almost everybody has some molding problems with the terrible wet fall since BlizzTober in our region. We had a little bit in both the soybeans and corn... don't have a grain drier, only aeration fans in the bins, but stored frozen 24% moisture corn over the winter and most of it came out OK when transferred it to a different bin over a month ago.

[@michaelc9128]

Ryan you can get 5thwheel grease packets ,just lay them on,there and they pop open when you slide under the trailer..easy no mess or get a Teflon disk to put between the kingpin and 5th wheel since you all ways stay hooked to trailer..

[@danfinley3690]

Another great video Ryan thanks for all you do for the channel

[@HighlandSteam]

Loved the Obscura lens effect showing the cloud detail on the floor of the bin.

[@benharleman587]

10:18 you caught one of Canadian Pacific’s Hertiage units!!! You guys need a small grain dryer to help with wet crop.

[@digitalshackonthelane]

Thumbs up for wearing the OLF merch!... Love watching you and Wes.👍

[@dafrndsn3632]

The best fix for molding on bin wall is installing a perforated bin liner. It provides air flow between corn and bin wall, allows water to condense all run through floor and the stir augers can run closer to outer edge of corn.( can usually year them ticking the liner when running). Best installed when jacking new bin. More valuable than power sweep.

[@shyfarmboya]

To help clean the bin walls. Get a push broom head and tie it to a 10 foot pipe. If I remember right we used a 1/2 or 3/4 ridged pipe. Even had a slight bend in the pipe so weren’t right under it.

[@shaneanthony1278]

Ryan This Was An Awesome Video The Best Ever You Give Us So Much Details On How Your Farm Works Absolutely Amazing All The Camera 🎥 Angles I Really Enjoy Watching Your Channel Thank You So Much God Bless And Stay Safe

[@patriots106]

The reason for the molded corn layer on the outside the bin was most likely caused by condensation from hot corn in the bin and the cold outside temperature while the bin dryer was running. It gets worse the hotter the dryer is running and colder it gets outside.

[@dustincummins3951]

Just a quick fyi, steer tires should be at 105, allows for expantion, drives should be at the least 100. It will give you better tire wear. Thats what most truckers run the tire pressures at. I know i run them at thise pressures and i get good wear on all tires.

[@leoputchinski8768]

You might want to lube the airbags with a silicon oil. We used to do this back in wisconsin to protect car bags during the winter to protect them from road salt. Best regards leo

[@randallvos]

Tip for fifth wheel grease, Red and Tacky works well on the plate, try to keep grease out of the latch mechanism, it can cause issues with the jaws locking.............

[@matijakovac9990]

Some years is just like that, but some years are the best ! Every year is different.

[@brittblanton8342]

Thanks for the video Ryan 👍

[@jeffdrier4460]

After you grease the fifth wheel, dump your suspension when backing under the trailer til the plate is under, of you shove most of the grease off when backing under

[@andreas404746]

Hey. Great video. It was fun to see The way home. Thank you for all the videos. Andreas Sweden

[@buckeyefarmboy107]

Had the same thing happen to me in my drying bin this year, the ring of damage did not go all the way down the wall, but it did slow the unload down, chunks were trying to plug the sump.

[@donaldlewis9734]

Great video. Thanks 😊

[@28081481]

Greetings from Australia. Love the videos. Always feel the same way when going into the scales. Doesn’t matter how underweight you are, just hate em

[@ralphstrucking]

Get a truck air gauge and air chuck. Easier to read pressures and also get your air lines off cat walk that’s a ticket cause can rub and cut your lines. Get a spring for air lines and power

[@dustinmattis3184]

Hey, that is awesome that you seen that canadian pacific train go by I've seen the same train in Belleville Ontario.

[@ilikefarming5715]

Good job keep up the good

[@SimonKL11]

2019 was a bad year for storing corn, but good that you got it all cleaned up👍

[@markelling1248]

Install Air Tubes on the bin wall one attaches to every bolt and goes down through the floor then you won’t have that problem.

[@jacobmartin6389]

Great vid Ryan good job 🤟👌😄👌👍

[@larrybe2900]

When there is a high moisture season like you dealt with last year could you utilize the old bin to take the edge off the moisture before filling up the last big drying bin to mitigate spoilage? Being you can't fill it up it might dry faster each session. Just a thought. May never happen again but a plan none the less. I am not dismissing the extra hassle.

[@TrainboyRR]

it looks like fun driving a semi truck and i like the sound of the airhorns

[@ReverseProof]

Great video!

[@theveggieboys]

6:25 We were worried about our corn it had high moisture, but we got most of it dried. So farm I’m enjoying the video my man! Keep up the great work and thank you for kinda setting an example for me while I’m recording 😂

[@dylanrambow734]

One of our 10 speeds is the same as yours!! Love them

[@pascalhumphrey]

all that fresh grease you just pushed off when hooking up. lol

[@farmshoffman8475]

Great awesome video Ryan ,

[@fastsetinthewest]

Back in the old days, we'd haul corn to Maumee, Ohio. The dudes at Andersons Trade Group would deduct for debris foreign material. The Andersons were allowed by law to add a certain amount of debris back into the corn when loading the boats for foreign shipment going out through the St Lawrence Seaway. I always thought that farmers got the shaft, big time. Eaglegards...

[@goflyboy517]

I worked for Anderson for many years. Great people and great company.

[@fastsetinthewest]

@@goflyboy517 The people always treated us great. We'd take grain and buy a big truck load of fertilizer. I'm talking very early 60s, when not many were buying fertilizer bulk.

[@lukestrawwalker]

Yeah, that's EVERYTHING... they do corn and grain farmers that way, and us cotton farmers they dock every which way they can... high mike, low mike, short staple, pepper trash, broken fiber, excess grass, excess bark. you name it... We toured a Jackson Cotton Mill one time when I was a kid out in South Carolina where my aunt lived... as cotton farmers we were interested in seeing the next step "past the gin and warehouse"... SO we were on this tour and they lined up all these bales, and you could just SEE the differences in the cotton bales... some were yellow from being rained on a month before they could get picked out of the field, and some where grassy or weedy, lots of pepper trash in the lint, some were good bales and some were even just junk bales that had obviously gone through a gin or warehouse fire, which is not terribly uncommon... Anyway, they set all these bales on the dock next to the machines that tear the bales apart and feed the "batts" of loose cotton into the spinning machines... Well, they cut all the straps and peeled the burlap off them and they just shoved them into the machines... and all these machines were feeding all the batts of loose cotton from all the machines onto ONE conveyor belt going into the next part of the factory to the spinning machines-- IOW, after ALL that grading and docking, THEY MIX ALL THE GOOD AND BAD COTTON TOGETHER AGAIN ANYWAY to make the final product!!! Just how crooked the "agribusinesses" are nowdays... Later! OL J R :)

[@jordanschneider6505]

Great job on the video ryan

[@memyselfandifarmer]

21:40- EAST BOUND AND DOWN!

[@MrJohnnyScrabble]

There's also a West Bound and Down.

[@wolfeislandexcavating5426]

Nice hoodie Thanks for the video

[@clinthochrein888]

Great Video! I've seen drivers when they do the pre trip besides using tire gauge they use a some kind of heavy duty wooden stick or a flat end of a hammer to Thump the drive line an trailer tires treads. I did get kinda grossed out when i saw the mold in the bin.

[@mahart40]

A hammer or stick is an acceptable way to check tire pressure. I can usually thump a tire with my hand and get within 5 psi of actual pressure

[@clinthochrein888]

@@mahart40 👍🏾

[@carsonwright4627]

If you dump your bags while you’re backing up then raise them as soon as you get under the plate then back up into the pin then it will prevent all of your grease from being wiped off on the front edge

[@SledgeHammer43]

Need to look at getting a grain dryer

[@waterskiingfool]

Cleaning out grain bins sounds like good work for the intern

[@Adam_Poirier]

Haha! The DOT comment was funny. I know exactly how you feel

[@russellmcknight7226]

Good to see CP rail

[@angus4202]

Nice OLF shirt

[@Doobie2100]

The joys of hauling grain.

[@richardvandyke9578]

A little tip. Spit on the glad hand rubber before you connect. Makes it a lot easier to hook up.

[@augustreil]

Would some dry graphite spray work on them ?

[@richardvandyke9578]

@@augustreil Spit is free!

[@mouscj3]

Great Video Ryan... Before hauling Grain gets into Full Swing with the Truck n Trailer... Now may be the Best time for some Research and a couple of Necessary Purchases... After all the trouble and hassle you had last year with opening and closing both Bin Slide Gates on the trailer with just your "Muscle Power"... You already know better than anybody that each day of use with the trailer hauling grain that the Bin Gates are only gonna get worse to operate...Right now its extremely difficult for you yourself to open the Gates... If something were to happen where you were laid up sick for a while or worse yet, were injured, Heaven Forbid....Would everybody else be able to open the Gates...Could the Intern Hannah open and close the gates by hand??? Now seems like the perfect time to buy a Worthy Power Tool with Extra Battery to carry inside your truck... A 1 inch or 3/4 inch Milwaukee M18 FUEL HIGH TORQUE IMPACT WRENCH with an extra battery and several quality Sockets to fit the Bolt/Nut on the Trailer Gates... The Impact Wrench should Greatly Ease the opening/closing on the gates... Dont forget to pickup a Power Inverter for charging batteries inside your truck...

[@michaelhuisinga5545]

U should run about 130 on steers and 110 on drives. The psi it says on side wall is the lowest psi to haul the weight they are rated for. You will wear ur tires way faster under inflated like that

[@georgekobbervig2259]

Good video

[@AndreyK415]

If there's drainage underneath the bin, you should definitely pressure wash the walls inside to get rid of the mold so there's less chance of that happening again in the future. ie sterilize the bin.

[@lukestrawwalker]

No such thing as "sterilize the bin". Molds are EVER present in the very air we breathe, in the fields, in the corn, and are present in it as it is harvested and moved. That's how it got there in the first place. That was a new bin last year, never been used about as "sterile" as it will EVER BE, and it STILL happened. Just a natural phenomenon caused by the presence of a food source (corn) and moisture (from the corn being dried, condensing on the cold metal bin walls) and the presence of a naturally occurring and ever-present fungi or mold, which needs the moisture in order to live and thrive and "do its thing". Later! OL J R :)

[@nickshamplo7489]

Run your drives at 115psi makes the side walls stiffer and you will get better fuel mileage and tire rear thats where i ran mine.

[@TheDem3nted]

dump out the air in the bags after you grease once under the trl raise it back up it wont push all the grease off

[@jefffiorin]

There is a friction disk you can get for the trailer so you don't have to grease the fifth wheel plate constantly.

[@augustreil]

Excellent video. Is there any type of spray you can apply to the inside of the bin walls to curb the mold and slow the rusting ? Also, great job driving Hannah !! Thanks, thumbs up.

[@Formulabruce]

use 303 on the Bags. Has the most UV protection.

[@austinbennett4068]

When you back up to a trailer with that much grease on it it just smears right off so you should lift the trailer over then fifth wheel and then drop it down and then lock it in

[@hturbo1007]

You're not the only one with moldy corn this year. That's very common in the midwest this year.

[@brettackland4210]

All the tires need to be atleast 100 or the heat will add air pressure for ya and that causes blow outs. Just and FYI 🤷‍♂️

[@bunnywarren]

What would you do with the mouldy corn if it was much worse? I'm guessing you can't dump it but wondered if the elevator had a "nasty" corn point.

[@michaelnelson5816]

I've seen the movie, I know there's a song for both directions,I sing west bound and down too!

[@mrbeefhbw]

Next time you grease that fifth wheel I would recommend getting the old grease off first. Then grease in and around the grease grooves. Should help keep it on the joint and off the front of your trailer.

[@Suedeman]

They sell low friction disks you can use instead of grease we use em up north for when it gets cold. One around the king pin on all our trailers

[@tate8020]

Or pick the trailer up rather then slide it on and literally waste every ounce of grease he just slobbed on there. Fucking farmers

[@firemedicseven]

Get a teflon fifth wheel pad so you don't have to grease it. Makes it a whole light nicer to deal with.

[@craigmiller5372]

Any future thoughts on a conventional grain dryer in the future? Seems hard in the Midwest with high moisture harvest to not have one.

[@tophand1918]

2 things , you need a truck air gauge, and if you have the ability you should've dumped the air bags before you backed under your trailer you scraped all the grease you just put on , off the 5th wheel when you backed under it

[@floppydonger1189]

hey man maybe next time you could throw a heavy tarp over the back of big red, keep the UV off her at least. im sure its been mentioned but figured id add my 2 cents lol

[@brentfarrow8125]

Ryan you need to haul full loads of products to the elevator,keeps your cost down per bushel for freight.😎

[@benny8300]

He loves to spend money 💰

[@HowFarmsWork]

Brent Farrow The problem I have is loading them properly. The weigh station isn’t a joke, they aren’t very nice when you aren’t overweight but you have an axle that is.

[@J-1410]

@@HowFarmsWork Can't avoid them somehow?

[@HowFarmsWork]

J. A. G. We have to cross the river and bridges are choke points great spots for weigh stations

[@J-1410]

@@HowFarmsWork I guess we're lucky then...

[@bradystreich3054]

I used to live in Dubuque

[@dajones1128]

Note!!! Farmers like 85 lbs on drive wheel so under inflated tires dig into dirt for field loading. This is a shot haul farmer thinking thing. Long Haul truckers would never do this...as tire would over heat and explode apart....and you would be buying new tire like crazy, especially in HOT weather on BLACKtop highways. So farmer who run SHORT HAUL/local can cheat and do this.

[@rylangeck6928]

Awesome to watch! It’s too bad your weight restrictions don’t allow B trains! They make things a lot faster! Greetings from Saskatchewan Canada!

[@rogerfrank1256]

Drive tires will get more mileage wear at 105

[@Reaglesracing44_]

who remember’s using glad hands on semi trailers?

[@diggermitch1]

you should look into a grain dryer

[@farmermatt629]

Ohhhh isn’t planting corn in June wonderful

[@dagsgaming1267]

actually Ryan i just watched your other video and Hanna turned the batarrie isolation switch off so something must of turned it on.

[@jimoakley3436]

Do you have air tubes up the inside of the bin,probably would solve your problems.I have them on all my dryer bins,seem to solve that problems.

[@briandemmer1941]

Ryan - in this case you were able to sweep the bin walls clean. Do you ever have to pressure wash the inside of the bin to get them clean? Thanks and great job on the videos.

[@bryanginder5903]

Brian, I've done that once an never again, not fun

[@jennifersauer81]

How would you get the water out

[@briandemmer1941]

Thanks! Wasn’t sure if that would be an option or not. Sounds like it’s more of a headache than it’s worth.

[@bryanginder5903]

@@jennifersauer81 most will run out but have to have the fans on to dry it out

[@MatthewHoag77]

The Stirrator was pulling a Jedi mind trick. [Spins augers] "This is not the damage you were looking for." Just put on the HFW hoodies and you will pass with no issue.

[@justinschmitz8034]

have you and Travis talked about investing in a small grain dryer??

[@jakerogers1861]

I enjoyed the video! You do a great job and anytime it’s made Publix’s you will have critiques. What moisture was the corn when it went in there? Anyone with on farm storage has to lose sleep of what you just managed!

[@HowFarmsWork]

Thanks! The corn went in 19-23%

[@lukestrawwalker]

@@HowFarmsWork Yeah we couldn't find corn in the field lower than 23% in northern Indiana last fall... even waited a week and still only dropped maybe a point. Just a bad year for that. Once the old man found out what the dock for that kind of moisture would be, he popped out the checkbook for a new Sukup fan and burner for the 10k bin... We put it all in the bin, dried it down to about 15%, then hauled it all out to town... did three bins fulls before we finished the main farm. Nephew got his dryer fan going and put his own in his wet bin, then moved it over to the dry bin and refilled the wet bin. It'd be good if you could partially unload that bin and transfer it... get the damp corn off the walls and down the sump and mix it with the dryer corn and then put it back for storage, but that's probably not feasible with yall's present setup. South Sask farmer is constantly "flipping bins" during the winter to keep grain "in condition" and prevent spoilage, but it's a pain in the butt... auger it all into trucks and dump it in other bins, mixing it all up in the process... Works but it's a pain and slow business... (and he's got much smaller bins due to all the cropping mix they do between canola, peas, soybeans, wheat, and barley.) Later! OL J R :)

[@tomcampbell815]

My Dad used to have the same problem with his corn bin...the outside 2 inches got moldy. He installed air tubes around the edge of the bin spaced every 2 inches and that solved the problem. Maybe this will work in your bin?

[@whointhehecko7408]

I'm interested in how the numbers work out. How much in total weight did you sale, and how much money did you make?

[@mmalmgaard]

I was a bit channel confused :-) You wear a OLF hoodie, but it IS HFW - got me confused there for a second :-)

[@Formulabruce]

Can the Grain bin be coated with some teflon type coating inside?

[@blakebiermann4316]

Just a quick bit of advice when you're greasing your fifth wheel, I only put grease from the back of the flat part of the plate to the top of the kingpin notch. Then I crank the front of the trailer high and back partway under it. I'll set the trailer down on the fifth wheel and back under the rest of the way. That way the grease ends up between the trailer and fifth wheel and not on the front of the trailer

[@tophand9571]

Instead of cranking up your trailer, if you have airbags on your tractor drop the air, back part way and than air up! Been doing this for years!!! Trick I learned working in a shop years ago.

[@blakebiermann4316]

I slip between multiple trucks and trailers, so when I go to hook up a trailer with my normal truck that was dropped by a different truck the trailer is higher than my fifth wheel with my suspension is aired up. The opposite is true when I drop a trailer with my truck and hook it to the other. Trailer ramps up on the fifth wheel with the air dumped. So I just end up cranking the trailers anyway

[@tophand9571]

Your right on there. But for Ryan that is just pulling that TRL he can do the air just as well. Stay safe out there driver!!!

[@blakebiermann4316]

Always, you do the same

[@michaelsteimel8737]

Is there any reason your grease is green? I know the stuff we get from fs is red.

[@fordtough91]

I’ve always been told drive tires are 100 psi

[@bradleylyons7047]

Read sidewall it probably tells you 100psi

[@johnnyrocket9372]

Do you perform any kind of a preventative or remedial treatment to the inside of those bins to stop mold growth.

[@homey3051]

What is you moldy corn being used for

[@TheGhostOfLuciasClay]

I think you are the only one singing west bound, because it's east bound and down loading up and trucking. 👍

[@HowFarmsWork]

It depends on which direction I’m driving 😂

[@TheGhostOfLuciasClay]

@@HowFarmsWork also saves you from a copyright infringement. Lol

[@farmergavin8901]

How many bushels of storage do you guys have

[@kevinwillis9126]

Thanks for the vid Ryan...

[@cassiuspuckett8789]

Don't you have a air drop on the air ride? With the air drop you can lower the fifth wheel before backing under the trailer, then air up the air bags just before you engage the king pin, that way you dont wipe off all the grease of the fifth wheel. Great video Ryan.....

[@HowFarmsWork]

I do but it doesn’t work, one of the great mysteries of the truck I’ve yet to figure out!

[@lukestrawwalker]

@@HowFarmsWork Bags take a long time to empty with no weight on the fifth wheel... OL J R :)