Crop Yield & Harvest
Grain Moisture Calculator
Calculate grain moisture content and shrink factor. Determine dry weight from wet weight.
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How to Use This Calculator
Enter the wet weight of your grain in pounds and the current moisture reading from your tester. Set the target moisture for storage or sale. The calculator shows the adjusted dry weight, total shrink, and shrink percentage.
Why This Matters
Grain elevators discount or reject grain above standard moisture levels. Understanding shrink helps you decide whether to dry in the field, use on-farm drying, or sell at harvest moisture and accept the dock.
Methodology
Dry weight = Wet weight × (100 - Current moisture%) / (100 - Target moisture%). This formula conserves the dry matter content while accounting for the water removed during drying.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Testing moisture on a single sample instead of averaging multiple probe readings.
- Not calibrating the moisture tester regularly against a known standard.
- Forgetting that drying costs money — sometimes selling at harvest moisture nets more.
- Ignoring the difference between whole-grain and ground-grain moisture readings.
Tips & Best Practices
- Standard marketing moistures: corn 15%, wheat 13%, soybeans 13%.
- Every 1% moisture above standard reduces bushel weight proportionally.
- Drying costs average $0.03-0.06 per point of moisture removed per bushel.