Agriculture Industry News
Mike in Michigan
Mike works with two Dryer Master DM510s. with the first one having been purchased almost 20 years ago. Both DM510s run on ffi dryers. The site dries about 600,000 bushels of corn per year.
What convinced you to buy a Dryer Master in the first place?
We were convinced to buy one because our neighbors and the local co-op had one.
Compared to manual sampling how much difference does having real time moisture information make?
The real time samples are helpful to our operation by having the peace of mind to know the moisture of the corn going into the bin even when we’re not there. (Note: in the picture below, the outlet moisture sensor is mounted in a Dryer Master bypass chute with a rotary feed. Directly below the sensor is the green button used to start a moisture sensor calibration.)
How much training was required to operate the Dryer Master?
It is fairly simple to operate. Not much training is required.
Have you contacted the Dryer Master Support Center? What was your experience?
We have contacted the support center. They have always been very helpful and timely in getting the Dryer Master running again.
Aaron in Illinois
Aaron has a smaller 1610 Grain Handler dryer that he uses to dry about 200,000 bushels of oats and corn. He has now had his DM510 for 2 seasons and uses the Dryer Master moisture sensor chute with a rotary feed which helps provide a consistent flow of product past the outlet moisture sensor.
Why did you buy a Dryer Master in the first place?
I had not heard anything about Dryer Master but my bin dealer and the Grain Handler folks recommended it.
How does the Dryer Master change the way that you dry, or help your drying operations from an
operational perspective?
It allows me to be a little freer to do ot
her tasks.
How often do you typically calibrate your outlet moisture sensor?
All throughout the first day, then if it is staying close to the bench tester, just once a day.
How much difference does it make to have real time moisture information versus having to go out and take a sample?
A lot. I’m able to check the moisture of the dryer discharge no matter where I am.
Do you use DM-Mobile for remote access.
Yes, I use it on my smartphone all the time, day and night.
Ryan in Ontario
Ryan has been a Dryer Master user since 1999. The first Dryer Master installed was a DM500 model and it went in at their then only drying location. In 2009, with the construction of a new facility at a new location, two Dryer Master DM510s were added for their Dorssers dryer. (For those unfamiliar with the Dorssers dryer it is an Ontario made dryer that you can see at quite a few locations around Southern Ontario.) In Ryan’s case each Dryer Master controls 1/2 of the dryer and so you can have the two sides running at different speeds. Combined, Ryan dries around 750,000 bushels of corn a year.
Why did you buy a Dryer Master in the first place?
The ease of controlling the dryer and improving the output consistency for storage. We also liked the idea that you could run it in an automatic mode which allowed us to focus time on other areas of the business during harvest.
How does the Dryer Master change the way that you dry, or alter your drying operations from an operational perspective?
When operating the Dryer Master, patience is key. You have to have trust in the system to follow the targets that you set out to achieve. It allows you to focus on other areas of operations during the peak time and yet have faith that the targets will be met.
Did anything surprise you about how your Dryer Master worked when you first used it?
It takes a bit of time to have faith that the targets will be met. At the conclusion of the year, it is surprising how close the targets are met when the final report is generated. This goes to show that corrections are made throughout the drying season and in the end you achieve what you had set as a goal going into harvest.
What drying tips (if any) would you like to pass on to other dryer owners about how to get the most out of their dryer and/or their Dryer Master?
Patience is key, give the DM time to learn the characteristics of the grain and it will meet your requirements. Keep an eye on all the moisture pods for blockage as this can give false readings.
How often do you typically calibrate your outlet moisture sensor?
We calibrate quiet often and likely too much.Every half hour if we have issues. On average we likely calibrate every 1.5 hours. When things are busy every 2-4 hours. It is nice to be able to go to the screen and know that the physical product is accurate to what the reading is giving you.
Pete in Michigan
Pete is a long time Dryer Master user. He bought his first two Dryer Master systems (DM150 models) way back 1996, one for an older Delux dryer and one for a Redex. He currently has two DM510 models, one on a 2014 model Delux DPX16GT dryer and the other on an older Meyer 2000 bu./hr. dryer. He uses them for drying over 2 million bushels a year of corn, soybeans and soft red wheat.
Why did you buy a Dryer Master in the first place?
I was unhappy with our drying results. We would over dry and also under dry. Also we had acquired another location where the drying was even more erratic due to varying corn moistures and an inability to control the dryer.
Did anything surprise you about how your Dryer Master worked when you first used it?
Yes it would adjust the speed when we did not think it should but it was correct and the dry corn coming out of the dryer was much more stable.
Have you found a financial difference in your drying performance using Dryer Master? In what way?
Yes we can ship corn right at the target level of moisture that we want to. The over drying of corn costs much more than most people realize. Also we dry wheat to ship to flour mills that have strict moisture requirements.
What drying tips (if any) would you like to pass on to other dryer owners about how to get the most out of their dryer and/or their Dryer Master?
I would stage corn in a wet bin and run air for two days then dry it. This means more wet storage and then drying 24 hours a day when you start to dry. The longer we run the dryer the better job we do.
Any other 
advice or comments you would like to pass on?
We have tried three different dryer controllers that were dryer manufacturer based and the Dryer Master simply works better in my opinion. The experience that they have with other industries and other products gives them much more knowledge than just about grain drying.
DM-Mobile from Dryer Master: Adding mobility and peace of mind to your drying season.
DM-Mobile brings true real time remote moisture monitoring and drying control to the grain industry.
Now your moisture and drying information can be easily accessed through your web browser on your smart phone, tablet or PC. There is no app to run. Just open your browser and go to my.dryermaster.com and log in to your Dryer Master DM510*
With DM-Mobile you can view real time moisture and drying information (including alarms) as well as up to 24 hours of historical data. You can also even make changes to moisture and rate set points all directly from your browser. Now you no longer always have to be close to the dryer to know what’s going on.
Why not try out DM-Mobile at my.dryermaster.com (log in: demo, password: demo). If you are not yet familiar with the DM510 you might want to take a minute to read the help page for a quick run down of DM-Mobile’s features.
To help promote this valuable new feature Dryer Master is adding DM-Mobile as a standard component to its industry leading DM510 computerized drying control systems at no additional charge for 2014.
If you would like to learn more about the DM510 and how it can add profits and peace of mind to your next drying season why not check out our product page on our web site or one of our DM510 training videos on our YouTube channel, or even better give us a call at 1-888-318-0009 (toll free in North America) or at 1-519-725-4700.
* requires connection of DM510 to an internet enabled router
Drying the traditional way
At La Voz there is no need for a Dryer Master computerized drying control system at this time because the cooperative does not even have a coffee bean dryer. This is a situation that is mirrored in many smaller scale operations in the developing world for a whole variety of crops. The cooperative’s coffee is all sun dried in an open area right next to where it is washed and cleaned.
The actual harvest extends over a long period running from November to March, which coincides with the dry season in the region. During this period rainfall is almost unheard of and the cooperative can take advantage of almost constant day time sunshine to dry the beans outdoors on a drying pad, a process that takes about 5 days. As the harvest occurs over an extended period it is possible to use a relatively small area to dry all the beans harvested.
Once the beans are dried they are hand sorted by women from the cooperative, to ensure that the ones headed for export are top quality. The beans are then bagged in burlap sacks and shipped to the capital where they are processed to remove the parchment skin and then repacked for export from the Pacific Coast to the end customers in Japan, California and Alaska.
High altitude organically grown coffee
Over the years we have seen a continued rise in the average farm size in North America, yet in many parts of the developing world there are still many small farmers trying to eke out a living on quite minimal acreage. Recently we had the opportunity to visit a coffee cooperative in Guatemala to observe how they are handling the challenges of global markets in the face of small individual land holdings.
The La Voz Cooperative is located in San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala. All together 150 families are part of this small 33 year old cooperative that produces organic coffee for export. On average each family has only 1 hectare (2.5 acres) of land from which to make a living. They farm Arabica coffee organically at an altitude of over 5,000 feet with 60 per cent shade using trees like banana and avocado to provide the shade cover. They also harvest the bananas for personal use and try to sell the avocados outside the area to earn some additional cash.
In a good year the cooperative, which maintains a basic processing facility, is able to process and sell 5 container loads of export quality coffee beans. They have just 3 customers, one in California, one in Alaska and one in Japan that buy 95% of the coffee they produce. The remaining 5% is kept to be sold locally, especially to visitors to the cooperative. The cooperative is an interesting example of how small growers with minimal land holdings in a developing economy are able to access an export market for their specialty crop.
Of course there is no doubt that the quality of the coffee also helps. Coffee grown at over 5,000 feet is referred to as “very high altitude” coffee and it is known that as altitude increases the coffee’s flavour profile becomes more pronounced and distinctive. Add in the impact from the region’s volcanic soil and we can attest that the La Voz coffee definitely delivers a lovely coffee drinking experience.
Celebrating 30 Years of Dryer Master
When we say Dryer Master is the “premiere online moisture measurement and moisture control technology,” we mean it. From the beginning, we at Dryer Master have steadily improved and enhanced our technology to keep it on the leading edge. We’re proud to say we’ve now been serving customers for three decades—that’s right, this year, we’re turning the big 3-0.
We’re not shy about our age—in fact, we’re more than happy to talk about where we’ve come from and how we’ve grown since 1983. We began by controlling moisture in the drying process for corn, a notoriously difficult process to control. By helping our customers dry more product closer to target, we were able to help them experience real savings in dollars and quality. With this success, we expanded the application of our moisture measurement and control technology to other processes including manufactured food and feeds. This proved to be an important step for our business, and our capabilities—and it paid off.
As our focus has grown over the years we have continued with a tradition of innovation. And as we have learned more about the drying process, and as technology has evolved, our systems have evolved as well. We now have control and monitoring systems that can be integrated into dryer control panels or plant-wide systems or accessed via the web.
We’re currently working on the next generation of Dryer Masters, and you can be assured that we will be building in all of the latest technology to provide the kind of access and quality of control that have made Dryer Master the trusted name in drying control for 30 years. It’s safe to say we have an incredible future ahead of us, and we thank you, our customers, for making our 30th birthday a memorable and exciting one.
How Fertilizer Makes a Difference in Agriculture
At Dryer Master, our products function to monitor grain in the agricultural industry. Most of the time, we see the crops after they’ve been harvested and are in drying containers, but we still are aware of the entire process it takes to get a grain from ground to dinner table. Regardless of whether a farmer is growing corn or coffee beans, each plant starts as a seed that needs to be nourished.
Farmers are aware of a delicate chemical balance needed in the soil to ensure the health of crops. Carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen are essential to plant health, and since they’re free-flowing in the air, there’s no need to worry. However, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are equally as important, but they usually need to be added to existing soil through fertilizer.
Without the balance, a plant does not get its essential amino acids, nutrients, and energy. Each mineral has an important role in crop growth:
- Nitrogen aides in processing carbohydrates, which builds new tissue, and also spurs protein creation.
- Phosphorus assists in producing oxygen and sugar.
- Potassium helps with moisture absorption and food metabolizing.
This supply of concentrated chemicals provides plants with the necessities to quickly grow, which is essential for the agricultural industry, but all fertilizers aren’t created equally.
A quick check of the label typically shows three numbers on a package (such as 20-17-10) to display the nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium mineral balance. The amount of these nutrients needed varies between crops, and it’s up to the farmer to test the pH balance and figure out what the plant needs. Too much fertilizer can be a bad thing—especially with Nitrogen. If there’s too much, the plant will be heavy and have difficulty growing upright, but if there’s too little, the plant will grow weak and be unable to fully absorb water.
Most manmade fertilizers comes as pellets, powders, or liquids, and as long as the soil is enriched and healthy, the end result will be up to par. At Dryer Master, we think it’s important to know every aspect of the industry, and if you want to learn more about us and our products, head over to our website.
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