Grain Season: 5 Ways a Shore Moisture Meter Is Essential

Adjusting yield according to the USDA moisture content standards requires complex, time-consuming calculations. After all that, there's no way to know if you got the answer correct.

Old-time farmers would measure the moisture content of their grains by biting into them. If the grain broke easily, it was dry enough.

Nowadays, there's a much easier and more accurate way to gauge grain moisture content. A grain moisture meter is all you need to simplify and manage your grain crops without having to do the math or the guesswork.

Keep reading to discover all the benefits of grain moisture meters.

What Is a Grain Moisture Meter?

A moisture meter is a calibrator used to measure the liquid content of materials, like solids, hydrocarbon liquids, and gases. These substances include paper, soil, wood, asphalt, food, and grain.

Moisture meters come in handy across a range of industries including construction, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, carpentry, and especially agriculture.

Their main purpose is to gauge whether materials are ready for the next production phase. In agriculture, the moisture content of grain impacts its sale weight, quality, and storage.

Failure to measure moisture can result in serious wastage and financial losses for farmers.

1. Avoid Mold Growth

Lancaster University identifies guidelines for grain storage to help ensure you get the most out of your crops. To prevent mold, they recommend that you store grain at 13% moisture.

When stored in a cool, damp environment, or if it's exposed to leaks, grain moisture content can increase during storage, leading to mold, especially over extended periods.

This presents a major challenge for storage managers trying to keep grains in optimum condition. A good quality grain tester makes it a lot easier to manage the storage environment and avoid grain moisture gains.

2. Enhanced Quality Control

With a moisture tester, farmers can ensure they present grain of a consistently high standard that meets international requirements. Moisture testers help you monitor moisture levels at every stage of the process from harvest to storage.

Initially, a moisture tester helps you check the quality of your seeds for optimum germination.To avoid mechanical damage, it's best to harvest coin when it has a moisture content of 22%. With one of these devices, you can tell the best time to harvest grain for the best profits.

The optimum moisture levels for grain storage are a lot lower than 22%.

That means you need to pre-dry grain before delivering it to a storage facility. Without a moisture tester at this stage, you won't know when your grain is good to move on to the next stage.

3. Avoid Waste and Spoilage

Ongoing moisture monitoring helps you prevent losses due to moisture shrinkage, deterioration, or spoilage.

The temperature of storage bins has a significant impact on the health of grains, and there's a strong relationship between temperature, airflow, and moisture content.

These factors combine to produce humidity, which quickly leads to decay and mold build-up. Ongoing monitoring of moisture levels will reveal the slightest hint of humidity, helping you manage temperature and airflow for preserving your grains.

In this way, you don't need to wait and see if your grain survives the storage process, you can make sure it does. A spoiled crop undoes all your hard work throughout the planting and growing season and has a major financial impact on your farm.

4. Increased Revenue From Your Crops

Not only does a moisture meter prevent financial loss, but it also means you can get more money for your grain from buyers.

Buyers will pay top dollar for grains delivered in optimum condition. They'll deduct the cost of drying and processing the grains from their offer if your grain is too wet on delivery.

You'll also experience no shortage of offers once you've established a reputation for producing good quality crops that your customers can send to market quickly

5. A Grain Moisture Meter Improves Efficiency

The grain season is a busy time for farmers and storage facilities alike and requires efficient procedures to ensure nobody falls behind.

With a moisture tester, you know exactly when the grain is dry for use. You can measure all kinds of feed and grain with one meter, including:

• Corn
• Barley
• Canola
• Sorghum
• Wheat
• Rice
• Seeds
• Peanuts

It's an easy, quick, and convenient process that helps save time and makes sure the consumer ends up with the best possible product. Optimal productivity, quality, and costs mean better profits for farmers.

Why Choose a Shore Moisture Meter?

Shore Measuring Systems began its agricultural journey way back in 1968, making this company one of the most experienced manufacturers in the industry. Today, Shore builds, sells, and services grain grading equipment and moisture meters in 50 states as well as internationally.

You benefit from this experience and knowledge when you choose a shore moisture tester.

These products stand out in terms of precision, making them suited to farmers as well as grain processors and elevators requiring utmost accuracy in their operations. They consistently match the results achieved by the moisture meters used by USDA inspectors.

When you buy Shore products, you also enjoy a long-standing tradition of dedicated customer service and assistance with repairs and calibration.

Get the Right Tools For Your Job

Using a grain moisture meter offers significant benefits across the grain production industry. There are several types of moisture meters available for use at each stage.

What's more, they offer a high ROI due to their relative affordability and are easy to use, too.

At Barndoor Ag, we're committed to providing farmers and gardeners with the tools and information they need to succeed. Browse our deals page for the latest specials, or check out our online store to see what we have in stock.