Drying grain raises fire risk

Farmers across Nebraska and Iowa are harvesting wetter-than-normal grain that needs to dry out before they can take it to a grain elevator.

They can either air-dry the grain in bins — a process that can take weeks to complete — or blow heated air into the bins, which cuts the drying time considerably.

Problems arise, however, when the heaters or related equipment hasn’t been properly maintained or the dryers are modified in an attempt to speed the process.

The Nebraska State Fire Marshal’s Office sent out an alert Friday concerning some recent fires resulting from grain-drying operations.

Four such fires have been reported in the state within the last few weeks, said Ray Nance, a spokesman for the Fire Marshal’s Office. Two of the fires were caused by leaks in fuel hoses running between the fuel tank and the dryer, he said.

Elevators have a limited capacity to dry grain, and many elevators aren’t taking any corn with more than 17 percent moisture content because it would spoil before they could dry it, said Tom Dorn, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln extension educator in Lancaster County.

In recent years, farmers haven’t had to worry about drying their crops. Not so this year.

Dorn, who has been with UNL for about 30 years, said, “I’ve never seen a fall where we’ve had such high moistures in the grain, especially this late in the year.”

He said farmers have told him they have been putting corn with 25 percent to 28 percent moisture in their bins.

Grain-bin fires affect more than just the farmers themselves, Nance said. Much of the state is served by volunteer firefighters, he said, many of whom are trying to get their own crops in.

“It’s also impacting others when this happens,” he said.

Contact the writer:

444-1109, bob.glissmann@owh.com

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