The precision and accuracy of the Standard Volume Weight method of estimating dry weight losses in wheat, grain sorghum and maize, and a comparison with the Thousand Grain Mass method in wheat containing fine material

Abstract

The accuracy and precision of the Standard Volume Weight (SVW) method of estimating dry weight loss of grain with and without a special grain cleaning procedure were tested using wheat, grain sorghum, and maize. The baseline relationship between bulk density and moisture content was adequately described by a straight line between 10.0 and 16.0% moisture content, but a curvilinear model was significantly less variable in all wheat lots tested and in four of the seven lots of maize. The precision of the SVW method was greater when used with wheat than when used with the other grains but did not directly predict observed loss except in cleaned wheat. Conversion factors were employed to convert SVW estimates to observed loss. The SVW method of loss estimation was found to be less variable than the Thousand Grain Mass (TGM) method on six lots of wheat with and without fine material. Both SVW and TGM were reduced by the addition of fine material, but TGM was affected more than SVW.