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PERC


Prepare now for post-harvest drying

By Darrin Pack Purdue University Minnesota Farm Guide


The nearly ideal weather that has been credited with helping produce an expected record corn crop in Indiana also is yielding concerns that some of the grain will be harvested wetter than normal and require more artificial drying for storage.

"It looks like it's going to be a great crop, and it definitely looks like it could be a wet harvesting year," said Klein Ileleji, associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering at Purdue University. "Farmers should be working now to avoid problems later on."

Adequate drying is an especially important consideration for growers who plan to store their crop rather than sell it immediately, Ileleji said. Excess moisture makes stored grain more susceptible to spoilage.

Under more normal conditions, farmers would bring in their corn with a moisture content of about 20 percent, Ileleji said. The grain can be safely stored for six months with moisture content of 15 percent and up to a year at 14 percent.

This year, because cooler temperatures and damp air delayed dry-down in the field, some farmers could be bringing in crops with moisture content of 25 percent or higher.

Wringing out that extra moisture will be a challenge, Ileleji said.

"We typically talk about taking out 5 percent or more of the moisture in the drying process. Now we could be talking about 10 percent or more for some of the crop," he said.

Drying units could be taxed by the extra work, so farmers should make sure their equipment is in good working order, Ileleji said.

"Wet corn will not flow smoothly through the machine and could clog the mechanism," he said. "Because post-harvest drying is a time-consuming process, there is a tendency to try to do too much at once, which simply leads to breakdowns and additional delays."

Ileleji stressed that operators should never reach into a drying unit or storage bin with flowing grain to clear a jam.

"That is a significant safety hazard," he said.

Despite the additional work and expense associated with an extended drying operation, Ileleji advised farmers who might have a moisture issue not to wait too long for their crop to dry down in the field before harvesting.

"We are already pushing the outside of the weather envelope in late October," Ileleji said. "It is better to bring the crop in wet than to have it freeze."

Despite high moisture content in some parts of the state, most of Indiana's corn crop appears to be in good shape for harvesting, with few signs of ear rot or other toxic fungal diseases that could thrive in wet conditions, said Bob Nielsen, Purdue Extension corn specialist.

"We are amazingly on track," Nielsen said.

Recent warmer, drier weather throughout much of the region has helped the dry-down.

"We've been losing one-half to three-quarters point a day in moisture content over the past seven to 10 days," he said. "That's very good for this time of year."

Once the corn is brought in, farmers should have plenty of propane to fuel their drying equipment, said Wally Tyner, a Purdue agricultural economist specializing in biofuels.

Last year, national propane stocks were about average heading into the drying season, Tyner said. But after a large, wet harvest similar to this year, farmers used nearly four times as much propane to dry their crops as they did in 2012, quickly drawing down the reserves and helping to lead to critical shortages of the gas later when the region plunged into one of the coldest winters on record.

Tyner said propane inventory is now running about 20 percent above last year. He advised farmers to fill up their tanks now before high demand and slick winter roads make supply more difficult in the coming weeks and months.

"It's simply better to be prepared," he said.


            


Call Thrifty Propane at 800-879-3152 to fill your tank or purchase a prebuy!
 
PERC

Study links hundreds of Ohio quakes to fracking

By Associated Press October 14

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A new study suggests fracking triggered hundreds of small, unnoticeable earthquakes in eastern Ohio late last year, months before the state first linked seismic activity to the much-debated oil-and-gas extraction technique.

The report, which appears in the November issue of the journal Seismological Research Letters, identified nearly 400 tremors on a previously unmapped fault in Harrison County between Oct. 1 and Dec. 13, 2013.

That included 10 quakes of magnitudes of 1.7 to 2.2. That's intense enough to have temporarily halted activity under Ohio's new drilling permit rules had they been in place at the time, but is still considered minor.

The quakes fell along a fault lying directly under three hydraulic fracturing operations and tended to coincide with nearby activity, researchers found. About 190 quakes were detected in a single three-day period last October, beginning within hours of the start of fracking. None of the quakes was reported felt by people.

Shawn Bennett, a spokesman for the Ohio Oil & Gas Association, said the industry is looking at the issue nationally but wants more information on what caused the Ohio. He said human-caused earthquakes are "extremely rare," whereas 1.3 million tremors of similar magnitude happen naturally around the globe every year.

Ohio Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Bethany McCorkle said the state has installed seismic monitoring equipment throughout eastern Ohio over the past year and is keeping close watch for earthquakes strong enough to be felt.

Fracking involves the high-pressure injection of water, sand and chemicals into shale to break up the rock and release trapped oil and gas.

Rowena Lohman, an assistant professor of geophysics at Cornell University who was not involved in the study, said some faults cannot be discovered until underground activity is attempted. She said the latest findings can be used to try to prevent worse quakes.

"We've known for a really long time, going back to the '70s, that when you do any subsurface manipulation you cause small earthquakes," she said. "The big question is: Are we doing something now that increases the probability that it will induce larger quakes?"

Study co-author Paul Friberg, a seismologist at New York-based Instrumental Software Technologies Inc., said that fracturing rock results in micro-earthquakes but that some of the Harrison County tremors were significantly larger than expected.

Ohio determined a probable link between fracking and five small tremors in eastern Ohio in April, in the first such tie announced in the northeastern U.S.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


 
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Thrifty Direct    

As a Thrifty Propane customer you already enjoy the lowest price for propane guaranteed, in fact if you find a better price we will beat it by $0.10 per gallon. We do this for several reason;

  • First we want to be your propane company.
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  • Finally, our lower prices will give you a chance to see that we only sell the best propane and this propane lasts longer than what our competitors sell.

Thrifty Propane wants to go to the next level of benefits for our customers, we want to give you the best prices on the propane products that you already buy everyday by introducing Thrifty Direct. Now you can leverage your propane heating dollars to help you save even more by giving you $0.03 in Thrifty Direct Dollars for every gallon of propane you purchase with Thrifty Propane. We aren't talking about some point system that isn't worth even trying to figure out, where your points never seem to be enough and they expire before you can use them. We are talking about as simple a system as you can get. For every gallon of propane you buy starting now you add $0.03 to your Thrifty Direct Dollars account that you can spend only at the Thrifty Direct store. You know how many gallons you buy every year so adding this all together here is how you benefit;

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  The Thrifty Direct Grand Opening Special

                                           Started October 15,2014

  • A Thrifty Propane grand opening customer discount of 10%* over an already competitive price for the top quality name brand propane products and appliances that you want. In fact like our guaranteed lowest price on propane we will match anyone's price on the products we sell at Thrifty Direct**.
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  • The Thrifty Propane rewards program gives you money that you can spend only at the Thrifty Direct Store by rewarding you for every gallon you purchase at Thrifty Propane. For every gallon of propane you buy starting now you add $0.03 to your Thrifty Direct Dollars account that you can spend only at the Thrifty Direct store.  It is like getting more value on your heating dollar.
          
              
                                         

                                                   Go to http://www.thriftydirect.com 


 

Use this coupon code to get your Thrifty Propane customer discount - LoyalThriftyCustomer2014

*prices and programs subject to change

** Must be the same product.

 

Thrifty Direct Program Description

This program is designed as a value-added benefit for Thrifty Propane Customers.

Thrifty Propane customer will receive a 10%* discount on the posted prices for products at the Thrifty Direct online store.

Thrifty Propane customers will receive free standard shipping on products purchased at the Thrifty Direct store. If the customer chooses a different shipping option other than standard an additional fee may apply for the difference in shipping cost.

Thrifty Propane customers will earn rewards starting October 15, 2014, for purchases of propane from Thrifty Propane at a rate of $0.03* per gallon that can only be applied to purchases at the Thrifty Direct store. This rewards program will build a balance at the Thrifty Direct store that can only be applied to purchases at the Thrifty Direct store.

Thrifty Direct will be adding new brand name products to the Thrifty Direct catalog on an ongoing basis, so please check back often to see what's new at Thrifty Direct.

Offers and programs pertaining to the Thrifty Direct Program apply only to products offered through Thrifty Direct. 

*programs are subject to change without notice.


 

 

 


 
 
Since our winters are lasting longer and longer, more people are buying their propane in the fall now more than ever before. Be ahead of the game and solve your propane needs now. Get another tank to be ready for the long haul.  
 
Stay tuned for more updates from thriftypropane.com 
Call Thrifty Propane at 800-879-3152 to place your order.  
 
            


CONTACT THRIFTY PROPANE:

HOURS OF OPERATION :24/7 365

MAIN LINE 800-879-3152   

BILLING DEPARTMENT:  EXT. 708

TANK SCHEDULING OR REPAIR: EXT. 715

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