A  700 dry tonne corn stover pile was constructed in 2005, part of a $2 Million  USDA funded project to investigate one-pass corn harvest and wet stover storage using the Ritter Method:

Circulating water thru the pile during construction, removing solubles while compacting and ensiling the material at 4.5 pH as the sucrose in the stover, ferments to organic acids

Annual storage samples evaluated by LORRE, Purdue University showed stover in the open storage pile, 30 m high with a 45° angle of repose exhibited negligible glucan loss at the end of two years. 

Year	2005	2006	2007	2008
	Incoming Stover	Annual Storage Samples % Dry Matter
Glucan	31%	42%	42%	37%
Holocellulose	59%	68%	66%	57%
Acid Insoluble Residue	12%	17%	20%	22%
Acid Soluble Lignin	3.8%	1.5%	1.8%	2.1%
Ash	6.0%	6.7%	6.9%	6.9%
Solubles	15%	4.8%	5.5%	8.1%
Structural mass	84%	94%	95.2%	86%
Dry Matter Balance	99%	98%	101%	94%

The holocellulose yield was 94% and removing the solubles increased the stover holocellose fraction from 59% to 67% during the first two years of storage.  In the third year, the pile height was diminished to 15 meters, exposing more surface area, incurring more holocellulose loss.

The fermentation yield was 95% of theoretical yield, further validating the Ritter Method for feedstock storage up to two years.  Stover hydrolysis was done at 4% and 15% solids loadings (w/v) and 15 FPU cellulase / g glucan.  The hydrolyzate was fermented using xylose co-fermenting yeast.  Final ethanol concentration was 34 g/L (3.4% wt/vol) after 48 hr.