  Still, you don’t have to be stuck with a huge bill once your
grain is dried to a desired level. Through sound purchasing
decisions, you can slice fuel costs. Here’s how.  The natural
way. You may need to purchase little or no extra equipment. For
example, natural air drying can cut drying costs with a sparse
investment, says Bill Wilcke, University of Minnesota extension
agricultural engineer. This method uses bins with full-
perforated drying floors and fairly large fans. Fan size runs
approximately .75 to 1.0 hp/1,000 bu. of corn for bins that are
no deeper than approximately 18 ft.    “As farms get bigger, the
key is not just energy efficiency,” reminds Charles Sukup,
president of Sukup Manufacturing, Sheffield, IA. “It’s a
combination of efficiency plus speed and what you sacrifice in
yield losses by not getting the crop out on time. That’s where a
stand-alone dryer and speed become important.”  Don’t overdry.
That’s why companies still focus on speedy, high-temperature
drying systems. “There probably is