Most corn buyers use the corn moisture content of 15.5% as the base moisture. When any grains are delivered to the elevator above its base MC, buyers use a factor called “shrink factor” in order to adjust the quantity for the excess moisture. This is because corn buyers will not pay for excess water.
Applying a shrink factor approximates the equivalent number of bushels that would be in the load if the corn were dried to the base MC. Conversely, some farmers often deliver corn to the grain terminal at moisture levels below the base MC. These factors clearly demonstrate how sensitive the corn production economics are to the moisture content of the corn sold.
A good example that estimates the potential loss due to corn shrinkage under the assumption that these calculations are based on a 1,000 bu, a normal truck would be hauling, of wet corn as shown in the following table. It is clear that marketing corn at any moisture level greater than 15.5% will decrease the total profit.
