How Many Grain Loads to Core a Bin?
Broken grain and trash/foreign material tend to accumulate in the center of grain bins during filling. Air will not pass through this area very well, so the best management practice is to remove this material from the bin (often referred to as ‘corning’) and either store it separately or feed or sell it quickly to avoid potential problems during storage. This raises the question of how many bushels of grain are in the cone-shaped center peak, but this varies by type of grain and the filling angle of the grain surface (the angle of repose). The UK storage volume calculator includes a table for different size bins that shows the number of bushels of corn, grain sorghum, soybeans, or wheat in the center peak. For example, a 36-ft diameter bin holds between 4160 to 7390 bushels, depending on the type of grain and angle of repose (see table below). Other bin sizes are also shown and more are available at https://www.uky.edu/bae/grain-storage-systems.
