Agriculture, Soil, Fertilizer & Farm Operations worked example

Grain Drying Shrink at 5.75% acceptable shrink threshold: a worked example

This scenario runs the grain drying shrink calculation on the strong side: 5.75% acceptable shrink threshold, with every other input held at its documented default. Use it to compare moisture shrink, handling loss, or elevator shrink against a harvest plan threshold.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Shrink or handling loss (bushels): 750 bu (unchanged)
  • Wet bushels before drying: 15,000 bu (unchanged)
  • Acceptable shrink threshold: 5.75 % (raised for this scenario; the documented default is 5)

Working through the calculation

  • Applying the documented formula (Grain shrink percent = shrink bushels / wet bushels x 100) to the inputs above produces each figure below.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 5 % for grain shrink percent, the number this scenario is built around.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 0.75 points for shrink above threshold.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 750 count for shrink bushels.
  • At this operating point the engine returns 15,000 count for wet bushels.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where acceptable shrink threshold sits at 5% and the headline result is 5 %, this scenario lands almost exactly on the baseline at 5 %.
  • Use it when reconciling wet-weight tickets against dry storage counts, comparing dryer settings, or auditing a season's bin-to-bin loss. Treat this as a target state: the delta against the baseline quantifies what the improvement is worth before you commit to chasing it.

Results at a glance

  • Grain shrink percent: 5 % (headline result)
  • Shrink above threshold: 0.75 points
  • Shrink bushels: 750 count
  • Wet bushels: 15,000 count

Run it with your numbers

  • Every input above is editable in the live Grain Drying Shrink calculator, which recalculates instantly and can be shared with the inputs intact.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.