Between tobacco, corn, wheat and soybeans, many farmers in North Carolina rely on crop drying to get their harvest ready for market.
With propane crop drying services from Tidewater Energy, you can take advantage of propane’s reliability and energy efficiency to help cut your costs for crop drying while making the process more efficient and generating a higher yield.
We’ll come up with a customized propane plan for crop drying on your farm. Our bulk propane delivery is tailored to your needs. We also provide propane tank installation, affordable propane tank leasing, and wireless propane tank monitoring.
North Carolina is the nation’s leader in flue-cured tobacco, producing approximately 252 million pounds each year. Flue-cured tobacco accounts for 90% of the tobacco produced in the United States.
What makes flue-cured tobacco a desirable product? Compared with other curing methods, flue-curing typically produces tobacco with a higher sugar content, lower nicotine levels, and a mild, slightly sweet flavor and aroma.
By a large margin, most flue-curing for tobacco is done using propane. That’s because propane is superior to other energy sources for this job. Using propane enables the gas burner to work with a lower excess-air setting, thereby enhancing the efficiency of the system.
Propane-powered flue-curers offer superior temperature control and more uniform heat distribution than other energy sources, minimizing the risk of damaging leaves during the curing process.
Propane flue-curing equipment requires less frequent maintenance and repairs, as propane is clean-burning, which can also extend the life expectancy of the equipment.
Since propane can be burned directly in the barn, heat loss through the chimney is avoided, unlike with other flue-piped systems.
If the burner or controls malfunction when other fuels are being used, soot, aromatic materials and sulfur compounds could contaminate tobacco leaves due to the combustion gases. Fewer contaminants are introduced with the combustion gases when propane is used.
Did you know that approximately 80% of crop dryers in the United States are powered by propane? There are many reasons for that!
First of all, propane is portable. You can connect a propane tank to your crop dryer without needing to worry about the high cost of running a supply line from a natural gas utility line (if you even have one).
Unlike fuel oil, propane does not degrade over time. You also don’t need to worry about a fuel oil tank failure or spill.
Fuel theft is virtually eliminated when using propane.
Today’s propane crop dryers are dramatically more efficient than older ones. The newer ones require approximately 1,650 Btu’s to remove one pound of water during crop drying. Older crop drying equipment can need as much as 3,500 Btu’s for the same results.
With propane, more moisture is removed from your crop in less time. You save money while reaping a higher yield.
Use propane to keep costs down while helping to bring profits up with crop drying services from Tidewater Energy. Contact us today to learn more about what we can do for you.
