The 5 Best Grain Moisture Testers [Ranked]
Many agricultural experts agree that the most important element impacting the caliber of grain, silage & hay is moisture (Wikipedia).
Managing moisture is an ongoing practice that demands suitable measuring equipment. You can safeguard your agricultural investments by evaluating moisture content prior to, after, and during the growing season precisely and swiftly using either a portable or a benchtop grain moisture tester.
These devices are intended to enable you to make well-informed harvesting assessments that help you save cash and time.
Many people try to opt for used grain moisture testers- but these can be difficult to find, and considering that these precision instruments can lie around unused for extended periods of time, the prior owner’s diligence regarding maintenance is an unknown factor you have to consider.
One Of The Best: The Agratronix MT-Pro
- Direct readout for 40 different grain scales
- Provides a direct readout for 40 different grain scales
- Is able to test grain moisture as high as 40%
- An illuminated multilingual display for foreign languages (English, Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German & Swedish)
- Ships with a handy carrying case with a shoulder strap
- Features either single or precision multi-point capabilities to accomodate local elevators
Agratonix Video Overview
Let's take a look at 5 of the best-selling grain moisture testers on the market today and see how they compare.
Contents
Our 5 Favorite Grain Moisture Testers
1. The Farmex MT-16 Grain Moisture Tester
Providing a direct readout for 16 different types of grains, such as corn, barley, rye, rice, wheat, sunflower etc., this moisture tester is ideal for determining moisture levels in the field, in the bin, while drying and when selling .
Equipped with high frequency capacitive circuit, the MT-16 grain moisture tester provides you with precise results. This moisture tester is relatively small,about the size of an ice cream cup, and weighs only 2.8 pounds.
The product comes with a sturdy case, shoulder strap and a 2 year warranty.
2. The DICKEY-john Handheld Grain Moisture Tester
This handheld grain moisture tester can measure up to 250g of grain at temperatures from 32° to 122° F and displays results on a small LCD screen. It’s powered by a 9V battery and measures humidity in a 0 to 95% range.
This product has a 16 second cycle and it can store up to 20 different grain calibrations and features 10 languages in the user interface , making it ideal for international grain growers.
A 1 year warranty are included if you buy this grain moisture tester.
3. The AgraTronix MT-PRO+ Portable Grain Moisture Meter
The AgraTronix MT-PRO+ portable grain moisture tester has a very smooth black casing and provides you with a direct readout for 40 different grain scales on its 2.5” LCD display. It automatically averages the number of tests and stores average calibrations for all grains tested.
Most of the customers think this grain moisture tester has a great value and provides accurate results for its price.
This tester weighs 2.5 pounds, comes in clamshell packaging, and is ideal for farm workers and grain sellers.
4. DICKEY-john Bench Grain Moisture Tester
This is a high-end grain moisture tester capable of measuring up to 250 grams depending on grain at temperatures from 32° to 122° F.
The LCD display and touch pad interface that support 8 different languages make this grain moisture tester accessible and very easy to use. It is powered by 120/240 VAC. Product includes instructions and a 1 year warranty.
Ambient temperature range is from 41° to 113° F at 0 to 95% humidity levels, making this moisture tester a perfect choice for professional grain testers, animal feeders and grain sellers.
5. DICKEY-john Semi-Portable Grain Moisture Tester
If you’re looking for a grain tester with a great quality/price value then look no further, because this semi-portable grain moisture tester is perfect for you.
Similar to other grain testers in its price range, it features a 16 second cycle, can measure up to 250 grams of grain and displays the results on an LCD display. This grain moisture tester is very easy to use. It can measure humidity levels of many common grains such as wheat, rice, sunflower, corn and barley.
An instruction manual and vehicle power adapter are included with this product, which is ideal for workers who frequently travel.
Things to Consider Prior to Purchasing a Grain Moisture Tester
What type of grain moisture tester is right for you? There’s two kinds of grain moisture testers. A transportable or hand held tester is ideal for fast field assessments. A bench model, however, is much better fitted for evaluating grain that’s to become stored. A bench model obviously has more power, meaning it provides increased precision in determining appropriate moisture levels. Maintain battery health! If you are employing a portable grain moisture tester, ensure that the battery is fully charged. A low battery may cause incorrect measurements. Throughout the long months while the tester is not being used, take out the battery to avoid leakage. The battery pack ought to be swapped out at least one time a year. Read the user guide! Not many of us want to check the user guide, nevertheless, you should definitely examine and be aware of the maker’s recommendations, particularly the tester’s temperature compensation approach.
Tips on Operating a Moisture Tester
- Grain temperature may have a large influence on moisture measurements. Some moisture testers have automatic temp compensation, while others compensate only after you press a control button, and others demand that you just calculate grain temperatures, and then add or subtract a correction factor to the reading.
- Cold grain temperatures in most cases lead to low measurements, unless of course moisture has condensed on the exterior. With condensed surface moisture, digital testers in most cases provide higher readings. Cold grain ought to be warmed up inside a enclosed container prior to it being analyzed.
- Should you test hot grain from the dryer, that may end up being challenging. Digital testers have a tendency to underestimate the moisture levels of hot or rapidly cooled grain. Grain also will lose moisture as it cools. To obtain the real moisture content of hot grain, allow it to cool gradually in a enclosed container prior to screening.
- All grain moisture testers demonstrate some variation in measurement. Different measurements can be observed when the exact same sample is analyzed over and over again. As a result, you need to analyze each and every sample a minimum of 3 times and calcualte the average result.
- Whenever carrying out your own personal test, it’s vital that you get yourself a representative grain sample to work with.
What Users Are Saying
- Many users report using the grain moisture testers for peanuts and coffee beans – though this might require some calibration on your part to set up. DICKEY-john offers calibration settings for different items, which is especially useful!
- Calibrations can be tricky and require repeated testing to gain familiarity with the readings the moisture detectors provide – so you will definitely need to become intimately familiar with the unit you ultimately decide to purchase.
- User manuals are incredibly important with these devices – also be sure to check out what sort of internet resources exist for the particular tester that you choose – particularly important is robust phone & email support.
- With portable readers, ballpark estimates are what customers commonly expect from the devices. These help to inform decisions on the fly – but continuous calibration is still very important.
What is grain quality?
Grain quality refers to the quality of grain. It should be noted, however, that this definition will vary by the type of grain that is being examined. In general, grain quality is influenced by a variety of factors that include postharvest handling, transportation practices, growing practices, type and time of harvesting and storage management.
What are grains?
If a food is made from one of the following: oats, cornmeal, rice, barley or another type of cereal grain then it is a grain product. Grains are generally classified by whether they are whole grains or refined grains.
Whole grains contain all of the grain kernel, which includes the bran, the endosperm as well as the germ. Some examples would include cracked wheat, oatmeal, brown rice, whole cornmeal and whole-wheat flour. Refined grains, on the other hand, are milled.
This process removes the bran and the germ. The milling process provides the grains a much finer texture, improving their shelf-life, however decreasing B vitamin content as well as iron and dietary fiber.
Common types of refined grain items include: white bread, white rice, as well as white flour.
Refined grains are typically enriched. What this means, is that some of the nutritional elements like the B vitamins including niacin, riboflavin and folic acid, as well as iron, are reintroduced after the processing.
What are the benefits of eating grains?
Consuming grains is essential to maintaining good health. Research has demonstrated that incorporating whole grains as a component of a complete nutritional plan will decrease the risk of certain illnesses.
What are some of the health benefits?
- Whole grain consumption can decrease your risk of heart disease.
- Whole grains contain fiber which can help to alleviate constipation.
- Whole grains are also implicated in effective weight management strategies.
- Another interesting aspect of grains is that grains that contain folate can help pregnant women decrease the chances of neural tube defects that can occur during fetal development.
What are common whole-grain ingredients?
Rolled oats, oatmeal, buckwheat, brown rice, whole wheat, whole rye, wild rice, whole-grain corn, whole-grain sorghum and popcorn are all examples of whole-grain ingredients.
Grains can be broken down into true cereal grains and pseudo-cereal grains. The true cereal grains are from a botanical family known as Poaceae. This family includes sorghum, rye, millet, corn, rice, oats, and wheat.
It should be noted, that within the aforementioned groups there are also some other varieties. The pseudo-cereal grains are not part of the same family. Many of these are not really grains at all, but in reality they’re actually seeds from different plant species that are external to the Poaceae family.
While they are not considered true grains, their nutritional value is actually quite similar to the true grains. A lot of times, these pseudo-cereals are used when companies make flatbreads, pasta as well as popular snack bars.
In all, grains are an important component of the human diet and grain moisture detectors are a crucial component of the production of quality grain.
