Soybeans are recognized as one of the world's most vital sources of protein. The high protein quality makes soybeans essential in the battle against hunger, especially in most densely populated and underdeveloped areas.
Preferably, soybeans naturally dry in the field until they reach a moisture content of around 13% wet basis.
However, climate fluctuations pose a significant challenge to soybean production. For instance, unpredictable weather can result in frost before soybean maturity or rainfall during harvest, disrupting the optimal conditions for soybean cultivation. This challenge is particularly pronounced in the Northern Plains, where the growing season is limited by the number of frost-free days and early onset of winter conditions. Poor weather conditions during the harvest period may necessitate soybeans being harvested with a considerably higher moisture content, sometimes exceeding 20% wet basis. As a result, mechanized drying of the soybeans becomes necessary, and given the high moisture content and inability to air dry the soybeans using natural air or low temperature drying, high-temperature drying may be necessary.
The need to dry soybeans is more likely in northern production regions. In southern regions the extended fall weather enables soybeans to field dry to acceptable moisture contents before winter weather. The northern states have a much shorter harvest period which increases the likelihood of needing to harvest wet soybeans.
The limited amount of research on drying soybeans that is available was done a long time ago on soybeans that are different than grown today and the grain dryer design today is different that was typically used years ago. These changes lead to uncertainty of the validity of the information that is available.

The specific objectives are:
1. Assembly and testing of the Lab-Scale dryer.
2. To assess the quality of soybeans while systematically varying moisture content, drying temperatures, and airflow rate.
3. Analyze grain quality data to ascertain the optimal conditions for drying soybean seeds to achieve maximum quality.

From this study it is anticipated to provide:
1. A comprehensive report that provides guidance of the optimal conditions for drying soybean seeds for maximum quality. This report will be published as a peer reviewed publication in a reputable journal of relevance to the grain handling community.
2. A fact sheet for the soybean council and distribution through normal Extension methods. The Prairie Grains Conference and the MN Soybean Booth at Big Iron will be specifically targeted.
3. The recommendations developed from the research will be disseminated using news releases and incorporated into extension presentations.
4. A conference presentation intended to disseminate research findings to relevant grain drying, storage and handling communities, grain processors and academics. The NC-213 (a multi-state research project comprised of researchers from leading U.S. Land Grant universities, USDA-ARS research centers and private industry) conferences will be pursued.

This project will measure the quality of soybean seeds derived from various drying temperatures. This would provide insights to farmers and processors on maintaining high quality soybeans for global markets, thereby obtaining premium pricing for the commodity. Further, it will promote better storage of soybean seeds. This would also improve the efficiency of soybean operations where the heating energy to maintain quality could be determined.
In the analysis of data derived from this project, an assessment of the cost implications for loss of revenue due to cracked seeds from a large quantity because of inappropriate drying temperatures.
The goal of this project is to ensure quality soybean post farm operations, particularly in the Northern Regions for year-round operations. Consequently, this would increase the demand for soybeans from Northern States and provide increased revenue for farmers.