Grain Drying Cost Estimator - Fuel, Fan Energy, Shrink & Elevator Assumptions
Compare on-farm drying vs. elevator docking to find the cheaper option
Check local on-farm grain drying assumptions including heated dryer fuel, natural-air fan energy, physical shrink, and elevator dock/shrink entries. The output is a planning comparison with source warnings, not a manufacturer dryer curve, buyer settlement calculation, or final economic recommendation.
Check physical shrink assumptions separately before comparing against a buyer shrink schedule.
Grain Moisture Shrink Calculator →Size your propane or diesel tank so you don't run dry halfway through drying season.
Bulk Fuel Storage Planner →Check bin capacity before estimating drying volume for a season or storage plan.
Grain Bin Capacity Calculator →Plan the electrical panel for dryer fans, bin fans, and grain handling motors at the bin site.
Ag Electrical Load Panel Planner →How It Works
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Enter Dryer Details
Select a local dryer type, fuel, price, capacity, ambient temperature, or natural-air fan inputs. Replace local defaults with equipment records when available.
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Enter Grain Details
Input wet bushels, incoming moisture, target moisture, grain price, and commodity. Verify test weight, dockage, quality, and safe-storage target separately.
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Enter Elevator Charges
Input the buyer dock rate and shrink factor from the current schedule or contract to generate a preliminary side-by-side calculator.
Built For
- Farmers screening on-farm drying assumptions before deeper review
- Farm managers budgeting harvest fuel costs
- Advisers checking whether dryer, fuel, and buyer inputs are complete enough for a comparison
Assumptions
- Heated dryer rows use local source-gap BTU per pound of water defaults, not manufacturer dryer curves
- LP, natural gas, and electricity energy rows are rounded planning values; supplier billing and heat content control final cost
- Physical shrink is water-weight arithmetic and does not model dry matter loss, handling loss, quality discounts, or dockage
- Natural-air fan energy is a rough HP-to-kWh screen and does not model bin depth, static pressure, weather, or spoilage
- Elevator dock and shrink factors are user-entered and applied uniformly across moisture points
- Labor, capital recovery, repairs, maintenance, demand charges, storage cost, and quality risk must be added from local records
Limitations
- Does not reproduce manufacturer dryer performance tables or certify fuel use
- Does not model weather-dependent natural-air or low-temperature drying with equilibrium moisture, drying-front timing, or spoilage probability
- Does not include capital cost, repairs, maintenance, interest, tax, insurance, labor premiums, or demand charges unless entered separately
- Does not interpret buyer contracts, elevator settlement sheets, storage charges, or local grade/dockage rules
- Does not account for quality loss from over-drying, under-drying, stress cracks, reduced test weight, rewetting, or spoilage risk
- Does not approve wet-grain storage, bin entry, confined-space, fan, burner, electrical, or fire-safety decisions
References
- Purdue Extension Grain Quality Fact Sheet #3 - Energy Estimates for Grain Drying
- University of Minnesota Extension - Energy Costs for Corn Drying and Cooling
- University of Minnesota Extension - Natural-Air Corn Drying
- U.S. Energy Information Administration - Energy Units and Calculators Explained
- eCFR 7 CFR Part 810 and USDA AMS Grain Standards for grade/test-weight context