How do you calculate grain drying shrink percent?

Divide the shrink or lost bushels by the wet bushels going in, then multiply by 100. With 750 shrink bushels on 15,000 wet bushels, that is 750 / 15,000 x 100 = 5%.

What is a good grain shrink percentage?

Pure moisture shrink for corn dried from about 20% to 15% runs near 6%, plus roughly 0.5% handling. A total measured shrink at or under your crop's expected figure is good; the example's 5% sits right at a 5% threshold, so 0 points over.

What is the difference between moisture shrink and handling shrink?

Moisture shrink is the weight lost purely from removing water, which is physics-based and predictable. Handling shrink is grain physically lost to dust, spillage, and broken kernels blown out in aeration, and it is where inefficiency hides.

Why is my measured shrink higher than the moisture calculation?

Excess shrink above the moisture-only figure usually means mechanical loss, over-drying below target moisture, foreign material screened out, or scale and sampling error between the wet and dry counts.

How many bushels do I lose to shrink on 15,000 wet bushels?

At 5% shrink you lose 750 bushels, leaving 14,250 dry bushels. Every extra point of shrink on that lot costs another 150 bushels.

Does over-drying increase shrink?

Yes. Drying grain below the target moisture removes water you are not paid for and can add a full point or more of avoidable shrink, so hitting exactly 15% for corn matters.

Agriculture, Soil, Fertilizer & Farm Operations calculator

Grain Drying Shrink Calculator

Grain drying shrink is the percentage of bushels lost between the wet weight coming off the field and the dry, storable weight after moisture removal and handling. Grain elevators, farm managers, and drying-system operators track it to price bin-to-bin transfers, audit dryer performance, and catch invisible losses in augers, legs, and aeration bins. A half-point of unexpected shrink on a large corn crop is real money, so the metric ties moisture management directly to marketed bushels. This calculator returns the actual shrink percent and how many points that sits above your acceptable target.

What this calculator does

Estimate grain drying shrink percent from shrink bushels, wet bushels, and an action threshold.
Use it to compare moisture shrink, handling loss, or elevator shrink against a harvest plan threshold.
It divides lost or shrink bushels by the wet bushels going in and expresses the result as a percentage, then flags how far it exceeds your acceptable shrink target.

Formula used

Grain shrink percent = shrink bushels / wet bushels x 100

Inputs explained

Shrink or handling loss (bushels): Use moisture shrink, handling loss, or measured bin-to-bin loss.
Wet bushels before drying: Use bushels before drying or before the shrink deduction.
Acceptable shrink threshold: Use the expected or acceptable shrink percent for the crop and moisture level.

How to use the result

Use it when reconciling wet-weight tickets against dry storage counts, comparing dryer settings, or auditing a season's bin-to-bin loss.
It reports total shrink lumped together and does not separate legitimate moisture shrink from mechanical handling loss, dust, or shrink pricing factors used at the elevator.

Current U.S. benchmarks

U.S. manufacturing runs at 75.6% of capacity (Federal Reserve, Jun 2026). New factory orders are up 2.3% year over year (Census).
Industrial natural gas averages $4.9 per Mcf (EIA, Apr 2026), down 7.7% from a year earlier, with industrial electricity at 8.66 cents per kWh. Process heating and refrigeration budgets track both.

Common questions

How do you calculate grain drying shrink percent? Divide the shrink or lost bushels by the wet bushels going in, then multiply by 100. With 750 shrink bushels on 15,000 wet bushels, that is 750 / 15,000 x 100 = 5%.
What is a good grain shrink percentage? Pure moisture shrink for corn dried from about 20% to 15% runs near 6%, plus roughly 0.5% handling. A total measured shrink at or under your crop's expected figure is good; the example's 5% sits right at a 5% threshold, so 0 points over.
What is the difference between moisture shrink and handling shrink? Moisture shrink is the weight lost purely from removing water, which is physics-based and predictable. Handling shrink is grain physically lost to dust, spillage, and broken kernels blown out in aeration, and it is where inefficiency hides.
Why is my measured shrink higher than the moisture calculation? Excess shrink above the moisture-only figure usually means mechanical loss, over-drying below target moisture, foreign material screened out, or scale and sampling error between the wet and dry counts.
How many bushels do I lose to shrink on 15,000 wet bushels? At 5% shrink you lose 750 bushels, leaving 14,250 dry bushels. Every extra point of shrink on that lot costs another 150 bushels.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.