Grinding ear corn estimated tonnage

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About how many tons of cattle feed would I have if I ground up 200 bushel of ear corn for example sake ?
A bushel of ear corn is 70 lbs. So 200 bushel of ear corn would equal 7 tons of feed. I ground 80 bushels today.
 

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A bushel is a measure of volume. Different commodities will have different weights depending on their denseness.
 
A bushel is a measure of volume. Different commodities will have different weights depending on their denseness.
And that is the issue. A one bushel ( 1.244 cubic foot) box filled with corn on the ear will not weigh 70 pounds. A one bushel box with shelled corn will weigh 56 pounds on average. Put those one bushel of corn kernels back on the cob and the corn and cob will weigh 70 pounds on average, But those kernels back on the cob are not going to fit in that one bushel box. If you have a "200 bushel" wagon (248.8 cubic feet) that holds 200 bushels of shelled corn (11,200 pounds) when full, it won't hold "200 bushels" of earn corn based on 70 pounds per bushel. It will hold 248.8 cubic feet of ear corn (200 bushels of volume) which will weigh much less than 11,200 pounds. Per my research, ear corn weighs about 35 pounds per bushel by volume (1.244 cubic feet). That "200 bushel" wagon will hold about 7000 pounds of ear corn - kernel and cob. After you grind it, it will still weigh about 7000 pounds, but the ground feed will be less volume than "200 bushels" by volume since that ear corn will have lots of air space between ears. The finer it is ground, the less volume. So, if your truck, grinder mixer, or wagon have a bushel capacity based on volume, use 35 pounds per bushel for ear corn (prior to grinding). Note that there is a good bit of variation in the number based on corn variety and field conditions - size of cob relative to size of ear. As well as moisture in the corn and cob. Also varies if there is any husk on the ear.
 
Well what keeps me awake at night is "which weighs more, a ton of bales or a ton of firewood"?
 
And that is the issue. A one bushel ( 1.244 cubic foot) box filled with corn on the ear will not weigh 70 pounds. A one bushel box with shelled corn will weigh 56 pounds on average. Put those one bushel of corn kernels back on the cob and the corn and cob will weigh 70 pounds on average, But those kernels back on the cob are not going to fit in that one bushel box. If you have a "200 bushel" wagon (248.8 cubic feet) that holds 200 bushels of shelled corn (11,200 pounds) when full, it won't hold "200 bushels" of earn corn based on 70 pounds per bushel. It will hold 248.8 cubic feet of ear corn (200 bushels of volume) which will weigh much less than 11,200 pounds. Per my research, ear corn weighs about 35 pounds per bushel by volume (1.244 cubic feet). That "200 bushel" wagon will hold about 7000 pounds of ear corn - kernel and cob. After you grind it, it will still weigh about 7000 pounds, but the ground feed will be less volume than "200 bushels" by volume since that ear corn will have lots of air space between ears. The finer it is ground, the less volume. So, if your truck, grinder mixer, or wagon have a bushel capacity based on volume, use 35 pounds per bushel for ear corn (prior to grinding). Note that there is a good bit of variation in the number based on corn variety and field conditions - size of cob relative to size of ear. As well as moisture in the corn and cob. Also varies if there is any husk on the ear.
I agree that it would take 2 physical bushels of ear corn to shell out a physical bushel of grain. The US government law erroneously disagrees. What is wrong with our government? No common sense?
 
I agree that it would take 2 physical bushels of ear corn to shell out a physical bushel of grain. The US government law erroneously disagrees. What is wrong with our government? No common sense?
Government statute says that a 55 gallon barrel of corn on the cob weighs 350 lbs. and a barrel of shelled corn weighs 280 lbs----according to the statute! I think they got it backwards! I bagged a 359 lbs barrel of corn recently. It was 7 bags of 50 lbs each plus a few pounds left over. Could it be that 350 lbs of ear corn yields 280 lbs when shelled? If so, even that is confusing!
 

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