Customer Testimonial
<< Back to MapPressure Curing® Corn and Wheat in Illinois
My Pressure Cure® bin is the only bin I’ve ever had where you can fill it to the eve, it shrinks 12-18", and you still sell more corn in weight than what you put in by volume.
Bob Heckert
St. Elmo, IL
Capitalizing on his Grain Quality Advantage
Bob Heckert grows 750 acres of corn, wheat, milo and sunflowers at St. Elmo, Illinois, in the South-Central part of the state. Now in his fifth year of Pressure Curing, Heckert has utilized his 10,000 bushel system on both wheat and food grade yellow corn under a wide range of conditions. Having "seen it all" Heckert speaks with conviction about the exclusive benefits he is deriving from the Pressure Cure® system.
Heckert first used his 30’ diameter system in the summer of 1996 to cure a batch of green moisture winter wheat. "We harvested that wheat at 20% moisture and put it right in there. We leveled it off, turned on the Air Pump, and within just a few days it was dry. The test weight was 63-64 pounds/ bushel. We were pretty much impressed with that. Everybody else waited and cut their wheat at 12-13%. We had a little bit of tough weather, which kept them out of the field for seven to ten days. There was a lot of wheat marketed that year at 48 pounds, and the best in this area was 55 pounds" on field dried wheat. "We were at 63-64 pounds. When the trucks came in and loaded our wheat ... once they had a load on there, they couldn’t believe what they had" (for a loaded weight). Heckert also noticed a substantial reduction in shatter loss versus combining his wheat dry. Many small grain growers report a 1-3 bushel / acre reduction in shatter loss when straight-cutting at 18-21% green moisture.
Having achieved results which exceeded his expectations, Heckert looked forward to Pressure Curing his corn crop as well. "The first year we had food grade yellow corn. We put it in there at 24-27% moisture, with a few loads above that. We ran the Air Pump about three weeks that year. When we pulled that corn out it was all 14.5% moisture and 63-64 pound test weight. My Pressure Cure® bin is the only bin I’ve ever had where you can fill it to the eve, it shrinks 12- 18", and you still sell more corn in weight than what you put in by volume." One year Heckert had close to 10,500 bushels in his Pressure Cure® bin (by volume). When fully cured, "we hauled out 13,000 bushels...that’s heavy corn. Every year we’ve been from a low of 61.5 pounds / bushel to a high of 63.7 pounds / bushel. Every year. Every load. And every year the final moisture has never been more than 14.5%. It always stays right in that range. Every load. We can have some really nasty weather at corn harvest. Rainy and wet, where it stays cloudy for 3 or 4 weeks at a time... and our PC bin just dries right through that stuff. Just turn the Air Pumps on and don’t look back."
The superior grain quality Heckert has been able to achieve with his Pressure Cure® system has enabled him to get top dollar for his crop. Each year Heckert sells approximately 10,000 bushels of Pressure Cured food grade corn to a mill in St. Louis, Missouri, receiving up to a 25 cent / bushel premium over #2 yellow corn. He is also capitalizing on his grain quality advantage by marketing 50 pound bags of birdseed and other animal feeds directly to area pet stores. The customer wants clean, bright, stress-crack free corn, and high quality milo and sunflower as well. With his Pressure Cure® bin, Heckert is able to give the customer a high quality product at a reasonable price. Furthermore, Heckert is adding value to his grain by bypassing several of the middlemen in the production / marketing chain. As a result, he is able to pocket that share of the food dollar previously reserved for those middlemen.
Heckert also emphasizes the ease of use and low maintenance of his Pressure Cure® bin, especially when compared with the batch dryer he used previously. "It’s easy to watch and easy to use. Put good clean grain in there, and make sure it’s level. Turn on the Air Pumps and check the bin once a day with your Opi Temperature Monitor. There are no moving parts to service other than greasing the motors once each fall before you start up."
Finally, Heckert appreciates the support he has received from his local Pressure Cure® Specialist, Johan van Aarde. "I like Johan...he’s a real good guy. Very interesting to talk to and real knowledgeable. All CMC’s representatives I’ve dealt with have been more than cordial."
So what is next for Bob Heckert? "We intend on putting up a Pressure Cure® bin in the near future for sunflowers. The Pressure Curing impressed us that first year, and every year since. We've consistently had excellent results with it."
