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["Marie McHarry" <mmcharry AT gmail.com>]

On Sun, Oct 19, 2008 at 12:24 AM, EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net> wrote:

> Propane to dry corn???  Seriously?  Is this a common practice?  I wonder
> how much fuel we use to dry crops a year?  I had no clue that crops were
> dried like that.  I guess I always thought it was just allowed to dry
> naturally.  I guess I am showing my ignorance on the subject.
>
Yes, it's the standard practice in these parts. Of course, it didn't
used to be back in the day when corn dried on the stalk and then was
stored on the ear in corn cribs where it could continue to dry. Now
it's shelled as it's picked. At some point farmers will probably
return to the old practice.

On my trip to eastern and northern (up to I-80) yesterday I saw lots
more corn than usual for this time of year that hadn't been cut, so
may farmers are letting Mother Nature do some of the drying for them.

Marie