Rehydrating soybeans after harvest is a critical practice for ensuring optimal grain quality and maximizing profits. However, managing the process manually can be time-consuming and inefficient, leading to lost opportunities and unnecessary costs. Fortunately, with OPI full automation, the rehydration process becomes streamlined, reducing labor and improving your bottom line.
The Challenge: Manual Storage Management
Consider a grower who uses a 33’, 16K bu grain bin to store soybeans, with CFM (cubic feet per minute) ranging between 0.6 and 1. In the first year of manual storage management, the grower spent about $600 on fan run time and went to market with 11% moisture content on average.
While this might seem like a decent spend, but manual management comes with significant drawbacks:
- Time-consuming: The grower must regularly check on the grain and manually adjust fans, often requiring a great deal of attention during the harvest and storage period.
- Unpredictable: Without automated systems to regulate conditions, the grower is left to manually assess and adjust for temperature and moisture fluctuations, which can lead to inefficiencies.
- Peace of Mind: Managing grain manually can be stressful, as farmers must worry about spoilage and grain quality with no system in place to offer peace of mind.
The OPI Solution: Automated Grain Management
Now, let’s look at the same grain bin operated with OPI Blue automation.
The automated system is able to rehydrate soybeans by running high moisture content air into the bin using a connected weather station. The results were impressive:
- 16K of soybeans loaded in September of 2024 averaged 10.9 moisture content.
- Fan run time cost: $1,000 (a modest increase compared to manual operation).
- Set automation to target 13% moisture content.
- Sold at market in late April 2025
- Added weight: The OPI system helped add over 36,000 lbs to the grain weight due to effective rehydration, resulting in a better overall return.
- Profit: over $6,000!
The key advantage here is that OPI full automation allows the grower to run fans efficiently and automatically, bringing in air with the optimal moisture content based on the weather data. This automated process took the guesswork and labor out of grain management, leading to:
- Optimized grain quality: By controlling moisture levels with precision, the grower ensured that the soybeans stayed in peak condition, improving the quality of the grain.
- Reduced labor: With automated fan control, the grower was no longer required to manually monitor and adjust conditions, saving valuable time during the harvest and storage period.
- Increased profitability: The additional weight gained through rehydration resulted in an increase in grain value, leading to a higher overall return on investment.
At Fill (9/30/24) Performance:
At Market (4/30/25) Performance:
Why Choose OPI Full Automation?
The case study shows that OPI full automation provides significant advantages over manual grain management, especially when it comes to rehydrating soybeans and maintaining optimal grain quality. Here’s a quick summary of why automating grain management is a valuable to your farm:
- Increased profit: Automated systems add measurable value by optimizing storage conditions and increasing grain weight.
- Efficiency: Reduces labor by automating key tasks such as fan control, moisture regulation, and temperature monitoring.
- Peace of mind: With OPI grain management, you can rest easy knowing your grain is stored in optimal conditions, and you no longer have to worry about time-consuming manual adjustments and alerts let you know if anything needs attention.
- Sustainability: By maintaining grain quality throughout storage, you reduce waste and increase your ability to sell grain at a higher value.
The Bottom Line
By investing in OPI full automation, the grower in our case study was able to increase their profit, save time, and ensure their soybeans were stored under ideal conditions. With the added benefit of grain conditioning technology and grain storage technology integration, OPI solutions offer a smarter, more efficient way to manage your grain storage.
Ready to optimize your grain management? Contact OPI today to learn more about how our OPI Blue automation solutions can help you rehydrate your soybeans and enhance your grain storage practices. Don’t risk it—ensure the quality and profitability of your harvest with OPI.