No matter how good the harvest weather or how dry the harvested crop, all canola should be conditioned after it goes into the bin to ensure safe long-term storage — especially if it goes into the bin warm. For tough and damp canola, the spoilage risk is much higher.
Canola is considered “tough” at moisture levels between 10% and 12.5%. “Damp” is anything above that. With tough canola, aeration can be enough to dry it to safe storage levels as long as air has capacity to dry: warm with low relatively humidity (RH). At RH values above 70%, the equilibrium moisture content will be above 8% to 9% meaning sufficient drying for safe long term storage is difficult to achieve. Drying canola with aeration alone also requires sufficient air flow* and time to move the drying front to the top of the grain mass. Damp canola will require heated air drying and rigorous management to condition it for safe storage.
HEATED AIR DRYING:
Dry canola as soon as possible. While waiting, aerate continuously if possible and move damp canola back and forth between storage facilities to prevent spoilage. The combination of aeration and movement is ideal.
Have the right equipment. Continuous flow or re-circulating batch drying systems are preferable. They reduce the potential for seed damage from heating and allow for slightly higher drying temperatures. For very damp canola, growers may prefer to run the grain through twice at a lower temperature to prevent seed damage and reduce the risk of fires. Also, if the dryer has screens, make sure the screen size is small enough to hold canola.
Watch drying temperatures. Check the maximum safe drying temperature for your system, then reduce it by 11 C when working with damp canola as opposed to tough. As moisture content increases, it gets much easier to “cook” your canola in a heated air drying system.
Over dry canola slightly when using heated air. As grain cools when moved into storage, moisture content tends to rebound slightly. Over drying compensates for this. A general rule is to over dry by 0.1% for every point the grain is dried. For example, if canola is at 14% moisture and your target is 9%, over dry by 0.5 percentage points to 8.5%.
NATURAL AIR DRYING:
Natural air drying (NAD) using aeration fans alone can work as long as air has capacity to dry. NAD for tough or damp canola is not usually effective under late fall conditions when canola and outside air are both cold. In these conditions, reaching dry equilibrium moisture levels often takes too long to avoid spoilage in many cases.
Adding heat to an aeration system. The general recommendation for this method is to increase air temperature by no more than 10°C. Also ensure fan airflow rate is sufficient for moisture removal — 0.5 cfm/bu or higher. However, in late fall conditions, this may not provide significant drying, instead contributing to a higher temperature in the bin and greater potential for spoilage.
Temperature of the grain itself plays a role in the efficiency of NAD and NAD with supplemental heat. If the grain is already cool (less than 5°C), NAD and NAD with supplemental heat will initially add moisture to the grain. But if the grain is still warm (close to the temperature of the air you are introducing into the bin), then NAD plus supplemental heat can work very well. Increasing the temperature of the incoming air basically reduces the relative humidity of the incoming air (or increases the capacity of air to hold moisture) which will increase its efficiency of drying the grain.
Can your fan move enough air? When conditioning tough or damp canola, make sure your aeration fan has the horsepower to work effectively. The higher the moisture content of the grain, the more power required to push air through the grain mass. Insufficient air flow can result in a high moisture zone near the top of the bin that can initiate spoilage.
If the fan can’t move enough air, take out some grain. The greater the depth of canola in the bin, the more fan capacity you will need to move air through it effectively. Large diameter bins that provide uniform air flow through a perforated floor may have an advantage when handling damp grain. If you suspect the air flow is insufficient, remove some canola to reduce the depth. This offers two other benefits: It disrupts any high moisture areas that are developing. And it can flatten the cone, making the depth of grain more consistent throughout the bin.
Ventilate the bin. Proper ventilation at the top of the bin to allow for escape of the warm moist air is very important, especially for large bins.
What about blending dry and damp canola? If considering blending in an attempt to bring damp canola down to tough, be very careful. A poor job of mixing may simply put your drier canola at risk for spoilage.
Monitor regularly. This is good advice for all canola. Be extra careful with canola that goes into the bin warm and tough this week.
*PAMI ran a trial in wheat comparing two bins using 0.1 cfm/bu, two bins using 0.5 cfm/bu and two bins using 1 cfm/bu. All bins started with the same temperature and moisture content (17%). Bins with 0.5 and 1 cfm/bu air flow ended up between 14% and 15% moisture, but the bin with 0.1 cfm/bu lost very little moisture and ended up around 16.5%.
Source : Albertacanola