Customer Testimonial
<< Back to MapPressure Curing® Wheat in North Dakota
This is great. All our grain has been #1. We don’t have bleached out grain or low test weight. There’s no heat… you don’t have to worry about fines. And there is no bottleneck or babysitting.
Brian and Stan Larson
Williston, ND
Wet Grain - Not a Problem
Since "time is money" Stan Larson, Williston, North Dakota, determined that it was time to make better use of both these valuable resources. In 1993 Larson began a transition from a conventional batch dryer system to Pressure Cure® Dry and has never looked back. "I had a 500 bushel batch dryer. With that unit you could only cut 3 loads a day and then spend the rest of the day drying those 3 loads." Since Larson’s drying system was seriously hampering his combine capacity, he resolved to find a better way.
In 1993 CMC Curing Consultant Jon Tonneson,Newburg,North Dakota, retrofit 6 existing bins for Larson for Pressure Curing his small grain crop. He immediately noticed a major improvement in the efficiency of their harvest operation - saving time, labor and ultimately, dollars. "It was so nice," recalls Larson. "Instead of cutting three loads I just kept combining and combining.We were happy. At 18%-20% green moisture we can just cut and go. Wet grain is never a problem. It is just so nice to set up the auger and just go combining. Don’t worry about. Just concentrate on your combining."
The ability of Larson’s Pressure Cure® systems to reduce weather risk and retain grain quality has really hit home on a number of occasions. "A couple years ago we had safflower. We had 80 acres left and then it rained, but I didn’t want to quit. So we put it in there at 18-19% moisture. We just let her go and it turned out just fine...dried right down to 8%" (the desired moisture for safflower).
In another instance, "I was cutting 17% durum wheat and then the rains came. It bleached out everything left standing so it looked like rice out there. All the durum taken off after that was worth $1.00/bushel less. If I wouldn’t have been Pressure Curing, everything I had would have still been standing." By avoiding these types of discounts only a few times Larson feels the return on his investment in Pressure Curing is providing an attractive return. Stan’s son, Brian, is convinced that Pressure Cure is also improving the return on their combine by keeping it in the field even under less than ideal conditions. "You can go out at 9:00 or 10:00 in the morning and just grease the combine and start rolling. The neighbors all sit until the middle of the afternoon waiting for it to hit that magic number (13.5%). We just go."
Many producers contemplating a move to Pressure Cure® are concerned about the ability of the system to cure out the green kernel present at 18-21% moisture. However, Larson emphasizes that with proper system design and management the Pressure Cure® concept does work every year. "You need to have your system designed right so you have enough airflow, and enough ventilation, and then let the Air Pumps run continuously" until the bin is dry. Brian Larson adds "You don’t have to leave green spots and come back later. Just go right through them." Since the green spots in a field averaging 18-21% moisture have also reached the point of physiological maturity, these kernels will cure down — not shrivel — when subjected to the high airflow and pressure present in a controlled Pressure Curing environment. Many producers report that the plumpest, darkest, heaviest kernels in their Pressure Cure® bins are those which came from the greener spots in the field. Because these kernels are in fact mature, removing excess moisture through the gentle Pressure Cure® process retains all other desirable characteristics; maximum dry matter (test weight), high protein, ideal color, plump kernels, and all other traits which add to your bottom line.
Having seen these benefits consistently over a period of years, Larson expanded his curing capacity in 1998 with two 27’ (8,300 bushel) Pressure Cure® systems. In 2000 two new 33’ (12,400 bushel) Pressure Cure® systems will be erected to further expand his curing capacity. Both Stan and Brian Larson feel they are profiting with Pressure Cure® through better allocation of their time, labor and machinery, and better grain quality. "This is great. All our grain has been #1. We don’t have bleached out grain or low test weight. There’s no heat... you don’t have to worry about fines. And there is no bottleneck or babysitting."
