[Cool Hand]

Alright, got my first corn field this year.

Half of the stalks are over 10 feet tall but the other half is roughly 6 to 8 feet. I have stalks that look like they are getting close but then the other half still has skinny corn protruding.

Do you guys have a tried and tru approach for a cornfield that is very irregular?

Just looking for insight to minimize loss as much as possible.

Thanks,
Cool Hand

 

[hob]

If your going to use this for animal feed you need to wait until the moisture in the ear is down. The stalks should be dead and the ears snap easily from the stalk. Up here we usually waited til close til frost and picked a load or two to be fed right away. Then after the first killing frost we would go at it gung ho. Not sure how to tell you to do it in Georgia, it would depend on your ability to judge the dryness of the corn.

 

[Cool Hand]

Thanks for the input. I will remember that because I really screwed up the millet and oats I did have for feed this year.

Looking for timing to pick for human consumption and storage.

 

[Cuppycake]

what kind of corn did you plant?

Sweet corn? the juice in the kernals should be white, not watery.

If you want dry corn to store or mill, do what hob said and wait it out on the stalk until it's all dried up.
Dent corn will form a dent (hence, the name) in the kernals when they are dry and ready.

 

[Absolutely!]

if sweetcorn, I have a sacrificial ear on a healthy plant, which I test. They say pick when the tassels die - but they die before it's ripe.

it drives me up the wall. I go by feel, how fat it feels inside the cob (can be deceptive) and size similarity so that when one ear is ready I look around for similar cobs. But you do need that sacrificial cob just to poke at the kernels and see if you like the look of it.