304 East State Street, Waverly, IL 62692, US
The big grain moisture tester question Every year the question is asked “What’s the best moisture tester?”. Then starts a volley of answers that result in people telling how great theirs is. There are many versions of moisture testers that operate on different technologies. All the popular brands such as Shore, Motomco, Steinlite, DICKEY-john, Dole, Seedburo, etc. are consistent and reliable. Most are low maintenance and grain calibrations can be updated. In today’s world it takes more than being consistent and reliable. You can be consistent (repeatable) and be consistently wrong. Grain moisture is extremely important at two points – Storage and Point of Sale. Storage can include drying which relates to hot temp accuracy from a grain dryer and optimal adjustment of that dryer. You want to be “spot on” when storing to have enough moisture in the grain but not too much to generate spoilage. As grain moves along the chain of “field to fork” it is traded on the federal standard moisture technology. The official technology for the moisture standards in the United States is the 149MHz technology. This technology has been packaged and manufactured by DICKEY-john Corporation (a division of TSI). DICKEY-john offers 2 versions of this unit – The GAC2500/GAC2700UGMA which is the federal standard for moisture and NTEP certified test weight AND the producer version – The GAC2500/GAC2700AGRI. These 2 units have the exact same hardware and will produce the same accuracy to ensure the integrity of your investment. These 2 units are what all the older technology must match or be referenced to. All older technologies (NOT the 149MHz technology) are more susceptible to variables such as geography, growing conditions, seed hybrids, etc. These older technologies sometimes match the GAC2500/GAC2700 series and sometimes they do not. The problem is you don’t know when that mismatch occurs. You would have to continually check your older technology, including handheld meters against the GAC2500/GAC2700 series units. This is an inconvenience and takes away the advantage of having a moisture tester if it is based on older technology. The older technology is still being manufactured and sold but you can readily see the disadvantage of purchasing it only to not being able to trust it. Conclusion: The best moisture tester is the GAC2500/GAC2700. The GAC2500/GAC2700UGMA Commercial Model and the GAC2500/GAC2700AGRI Producer Model can be purchased and serviced by Grain Moisture Traceability. Grain Moisture Traceability checks and calibrates every unit for sales and service to tighter than factory specs and verifies performance on 3 grains plus frozen grain BEFORE it goes to the customer. This ensures you are getting the best accuracy possible for your investment. DICKEY-john is a name that can be trusted and the only US based company offering the latest 149MHz technology. Grain Moisture Traceability is owned by Bob Sadler. Bob has over 30 years direct experience with DICKEY-john Analytical products. He can be reached by phone # 217-553-2196 or the www.grainmoisture.com web page.