Customer Testimonial
<< Back to MapPressure Curing® in Minnesota
Everybody likes this Pressure Cured corn and they comment on it. My corn doesn’t have all that stress cracking and ‘milling effect’ [like heat-dried corn].
Allan Stromstad
Beltrami, MN
Harvesting Earlier and Reducing Weather Risk
Allan Stromstad grows 1140 acres of wheat, beans and corn in Northwestern Minnesota near the town of Beltrami. In his 16 years of experience with CMC systems, Stromstad has observed a variety of benefits which have favorably impacted his operation.
To capture these benefits across more of his acres, Stromastad has upgraded 10 existing grain bins from natural air drying to Pressure Curing over the course of several years. As a result he has been able to meet two key objectives. "There were two problems, really. #1: get the crop off and get ahead of the weather and #2: the batch dryer was always a bottleneck."
In Northwestern Minnesota Mother Nature often delivers an unwelcomed deluge at exactly the wrong time; harvest. Over his many years of farming, Stromstad has observed this pattern time and again, as well as the negative effect on yield and quality which usually results. "Up in this country, it seems like we only get 10 days to harvest. After that you are at the mercy of the weather."
Since Stromstad no longer relies upon field-drying of small grains he is able to combine days earlier and earlier each day. Because the gentle Pressure Cure® process does not employ the use of supplemental heat, the 15-20% green kernels often present at 18-21% field moisture will cure down (instead of shriveling) under the high airflow and pressure moving through a Pressure Cure® bin.
"The thing that always got us in trouble was putting the barley (or wheat) in the swath and getting rain on it." The negative impact of this was often the loss of malting quality and the malting barley premium. "We retrofit three bins so we would have room to dry the whole barley crop...and we started straight combining." Recalling one of his early experiences with Pressure Curing his barley crop, "we started combining at about 18% moisture. We got it all off and that night - of course - it rained. We really hit the barley harvest just right...the whole works made malting."
With respect to his Hard Red Spring Wheat crop, Stromstad's ability to "hit it just right" has been every bit as impressive. We start at 20% green moisture. "That's the only way you can get quality. I hauled some Pressure Cured wheat to town this fall that was 61.5 lbs / bu. that I had taken off at 20% moisture just before it rained. I helped a neighbor finish up some combining and his was 56-57 lbs / bu...all sprout damaged after laying in the swath." This 4.5 - 5.5 lb / bu. differential translates into real dollars. At 4.5 lbs / bu. , 10,000 bushels of $3.00 / bu. Hard Red Spring Wheat would generate an extra $2,250 of gross income by harvesting early and Pressure Curing the crop.
In recent years Stromstad has utilized his Pressure Cure® systems in drying his corn crop as well. In 1999 all of the Pressure Cured corn he hauled in was 3 - 5 lbs / bu. heavier than corn put through a batch dryer. The Pressure Curing makes a real difference. Everybody likes this Pressure Cured corn and they comment on it. My corn doesn't have all that stress cracking and ‘milling effect' [ like heat-dried corn]."
Having used his Pressure Cure® bins on a number of crops over a number of years, Stromstad is also impressed with the labor savings which have resulted from retiring both swathers and his batch dryer. "You can do it with 1 or 2 men less, and that's basically what everyone is looking for. I had to figure out some way of doing this [harvesting] by myself. I could see I couldn't sit around and wait for this stuff to field dry"
Another part of Stromstad's strategy has been to gain harvesting capacity with more Pressure Cure® bins, rather than more combine capacity. "I am of the opinion it is better to have a smaller combine, and when this grain gets down to 20% (small grains) or 25% (corn) get out there and do it. Invest in these Pressure Cure® bins and keep your old combine if that's what it takes. Take your grain off earlier and get it done."
Finally, Stromstad emphasizes that any good product is really only as good as the company who stands behind it. "I've always had a real good relationship with CMC. It's important to have someone you can trust. I've had just super-good service from CMC."
Allan Stromstad is able to harvest earlier and reduce weather risk, get better grain quality, and eliminating the dryer bottleneck, he is enjoying a variety of benefits which have had a favorable impact on his operation. His many years of experience with CMC systems have taught him that the Pressure Cure® concept is truly one of the most important innovations in agriculture today.
