Blend to Grade & Recover the Discount
Upgrades corn
A grade is set by its single weakest factor — so an off-grade lot can ride into U.S. No. 2 on the back of a clean lot. Mass-weight moisture, test weight, damaged kernels and foreign material across 2–3 lots to see the resulting grade, the limiting factor, and the value you recover versus selling separately.
Blend bench
Runs entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded. Drag a lot weight to zero to drop it from the blend.
Next: your grade is capped by Damaged kernels (5%). To reach U.S. No. 1, add more of a low-damaged kernels lot or clean/dry this batch to pull the blended value under that grade ceiling.
U.S. grade limits transcribed from the USDA FGIS Grain Grading Primer and 7 CFR Part 810. Discounts are a typical elevator ladder; substitute your buyer's actual schedule. Blending is mass-weighted on each grading factor — your elevator may grade on the as-received composite sample, which is the same averaging.
Grain blending — key facts
- Grade rule
- set by the worst single factor
- Blended factor
- Σ(value × weight) ÷ total weight
- Test weight
- a minimum (higher is better)
- Moisture / damaged / foreign
- maxima (lower is better)
- Trade benchmark
- U.S. No. 2 (par)
- Corn No. 2 limits
- 54 lb/bu · 15.5% · 5% dmg · 3% FM
- Wheat No. 1 foreign
- 0.4% (very tight)
- Source
- USDA FGIS / 7 CFR Part 810
U.S. grain grade limits (FGIS / 7 CFR Part 810)
Test weight is a minimum in pounds per bushel (higher is better); moisture, damaged kernels and foreign material are maxima in percent (lower is better). A lot grades at the worst of its four factors.
| Grain | Grade | Test wt (min, lb/bu) | Moisture (max %) | Damaged (max %) | Foreign (max %) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corn (yellow/white) | U.S. No. 1 | 56 | 14.0 | 3.0 | 2.0 |
| U.S. No. 2 | 54 | 15.5 | 5.0 | 3.0 | |
| U.S. No. 3 | 52 | 17.5 | 7.0 | 4.0 | |
| U.S. No. 4 | 49 | 20.0 | 10.0 | 5.0 | |
| U.S. No. 5 | 46 | 23.0 | 15.0 | 7.0 | |
| Soybeans | U.S. No. 1 | 56 | 13.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 |
| U.S. No. 2 | 54 | 14.0 | 3.0 | 2.0 | |
| U.S. No. 3 | 52 | 16.0 | 5.0 | 3.0 | |
| U.S. No. 4 | 49 | 18.0 | 8.0 | 5.0 | |
| U.S. No. 5 | 46 | 20.0 | 11.0 | 7.0 | |
| Wheat (HRW/HRS) | U.S. No. 1 | 60 | 13.5 | 2.0 | 0.4 |
| U.S. No. 2 | 58 | 14.0 | 4.0 | 0.7 | |
| U.S. No. 3 | 56 | 15.0 | 7.0 | 1.3 | |
| U.S. No. 4 | 54 | 16.0 | 10.0 | 3.0 | |
| U.S. No. 5 | 51 | 18.0 | 15.0 | 5.0 | |
| Sorghum (grain) | U.S. No. 1 | 57 | 13.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 |
| U.S. No. 2 | 55 | 14.0 | 5.0 | 2.0 | |
| U.S. No. 3 | 53 | 15.0 | 10.0 | 3.0 | |
| U.S. No. 4 | 51 | 18.0 | 15.0 | 4.0 | |
| U.S. No. 5 | 48 | 20.0 | 15.0 | 6.0 |
Limits transcribed from the USDA Federal Grain Inspection Service Grain Grading Primer and the Official United States Standards for Grain, 7 CFR Part 810 (corn §810.404, soybeans §810.1604, wheat §810.2204, sorghum §810.1804). Moisture ceilings follow the commonly-traded U.S. No. moisture steps used in FGIS worked examples.
What blending to grade actually does
Grain is graded on its single weakest factor, never its average — a lot that is perfect on three factors and one point over on the fourth grades on that fourth factor alone. That is why a lot can be docked a full grade for nothing more than a half-point of extra moisture. Blending exploits the other side of the same rule: because the grading inspector grades the as-received composite sample, mixing a marginal lot with a clean one moves every factor toward the weight-average, and an off-grade lot can clear the next ceiling on the back of clean grain.
This optimizer mass-weights moisture, test weight, damaged kernels and foreign material across two or three lots, grades the blended composite against the U.S. limits, names the limiting factor, and prices the result. Crucially, it also computes what each lot would fetch sold separately at its own grade discount — so it tells you not just which grade the blend makes, but whether blending is worth it at all. Pair it with the Grain Moisture Blending, Safe Storage Moisture and Grain Drying Cost tools to plan the whole sell-or-store-or-blend decision.
Upgrade off-grade lots
Ride a wet or damaged lot into No. 2 on clean grain.
See the limiting factor
Know the one factor capping your grade — and fix it.
Price the decision
Blend value vs selling each lot separately, in dollars.
Four grains, real limits
Corn, soybeans, wheat and sorghum from the FGIS tables.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does blending change my grain grade?+
A grade is set by the single worst grading factor, not the average. When you blend lots, every factor — moisture, test weight, damaged kernels and foreign material — is mass-weighted across the lots: blended value = Σ(lot value × lot weight) ÷ total weight. The blended composite is then graded against the U.S. limits, and the grade falls on the weakest blended factor. That is exactly how an elevator grades the as-received composite sample.
Can I blend an off-grade lot up to U.S. No. 2?+
Often, yes. If a lot fails only on one factor — say 8% damaged kernels (U.S. No. 4 corn) — mixing it with a clean lot at 2% damaged in equal parts gives a blended 5%, which makes U.S. No. 2. The tool shows the blended value of each factor and which grade it lands on, so you can see whether a given ratio clears the No. 2 ceiling.
What are the four grading factors used here?+
Test weight (a minimum, in lb per bushel — higher is better), moisture (a maximum percent), total damaged kernels (a maximum percent) and foreign material (a maximum percent). Test weight is the only factor where more is better; the other three are ceilings you must stay under. The grade is the worst of the four.
Why is U.S. No. 2 the benchmark grade?+
No. 2 is the trade par for most grain contracts — corn at 54 lb/bu test weight, 15.5% moisture, 5% damaged and 3% foreign material clears it. No. 1 earns a small premium and No. 3–5 carry stepped discounts. Because contracts and discount schedules are written around No. 2, hitting it (rather than the rare No. 1) is usually the value-maximizing target for a blend.
Is blending always worth it?+
No. Blending recovers value only when it lifts off-grade lots more than it drags clean lots down. If you mix a clean No. 1 lot into a wet No. 4 lot and the blend only reaches No. 3, you may have thrown away the No. 1 premium for nothing. The tool compares the blend value against selling each lot separately at its own grade discount and flags which is better.
What is the limiting factor?+
The limiting factor is the single grading factor that sets your grade — the one whose blended value lands on the worst grade. It is the factor to fix first: add more of a lot that is low in that factor, or clean and dry the batch to pull it under the next grade's ceiling. The tool names it and highlights it red.
Where do the grade limits come from?+
They are transcribed from the USDA Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) Grain Grading Primer and the Official United States Standards for Grain, 7 CFR Part 810 — corn (§810.404), soybeans (§810.1604), wheat (§810.2204) and sorghum (§810.1804). These are the limits a licensed grain inspector uses.
Can I blend to lower moisture instead of selling wet?+
Yes, and it is a common reason to blend. Blended moisture is the weight-average of the lots, so mixing a 17% lot with a 13% lot in equal parts gives 15% — which can move corn from No. 3 to No. 2 and dodge a wet-grain discount or drying cost. Just confirm the buyer accepts blended moisture rather than insisting on a maximum per load.
Does the blend ratio have to be a round number?+
No. The mass-weighting works for any ratio — 73:27, 60:40, anything. Set each lot's weight in tonnes (or your own consistent unit) and the tool blends by mass. Use the weight sliders to find the smallest amount of clean grain that just clears the next grade, so you spend the least premium grain to upgrade the most off-grade grain.
What discount schedule does the value use?+
It uses a typical elevator discount ladder per tonne: No. 1 a small premium (-2), No. 2 par (0), No. 3 +6, No. 4 +14, No. 5 +24 and U.S. Sample grade +48. Your buyer's schedule will differ, so treat the value figures as a model and substitute the real discounts when you have them.
Can I blend three lots at once?+
Yes. The tool takes up to three lots; drag any lot's weight to zero to drop it. Three-lot blends let you balance one wet-but-heavy lot, one dry-but-light lot and one clean lot to hit several factor ceilings at the same time — which a two-lot blend sometimes cannot.
Is high moisture corn at 17% really only No. 3?+
Yes. Corn moisture ceilings step 14.0% (No. 1), 15.5% (No. 2), 17.5% (No. 3), 20.0% (No. 4) and 23.0% (No. 5). A lot at 17.0% moisture clears the No. 3 ceiling of 17.5% but not the No. 2 ceiling of 15.5%, so moisture alone caps it at No. 3 even if every other factor is No. 1. Blending it down under 15.5% is the way to recover the No. 2 value.