Corn farming question

[rbstern]

The wife and I were in the truck yesterday. We passed by a couple of large (by N.Georgia standards) cornfields, where the corn stalks looked mature from a height perspective, but the plants themselves were badly browned, as if they should have already been harvested.

We know nothing about corn farming. Just wondering if this is a normal state of affairs. Was the corn on the verge of being harvested? A couple of nearby fields had freshly cut stalks.

 

[Gee Ray]

once the corn turns brown and starts to die off you leave the ears to dry. If you harvest it while it’s still moist then you have to dry it which is quite expensive. So if the weather is good and the corn is drying you leave it and let the sun take care of it. And then it can be harvested.

 

[LD1]

Sweet corn and field corn are totally different.

Sweet corn is harvested to be ate off the cob. Gotta be green and moist.

Fieldcorn has to be hard and dry. Because it's shelled and ground up for all sorts of uses

 

[old and tired]

Yes, field corn needs to be dried to 16-18% moisture before it's harvested. Meaning you should not see any green on the plant. If you saw green stalks being cut, that is for silage that will be feed to cows.

 

[MossRoad]

Was it seed corn perhaps?

At the end of the season, when the seed corn is ready to be harvested, it's sprayed with a chemical that kills the plant and starts to dry it out before they harvest.

 

[ponytug]

Salt water gets sprayed on to the seed corn to kill it. Quick, and in most corn growing areas doesn't accumulate in the soil. You also want seed corn out of the field ASAP to minimize infestations and fungal growth.

All the best,

Peter

 

[MossRoad]

My wife and I have been noticing how much more seed corn they grow in this area now compared to when we were kids. It seems to be everywhere.

 

[rbstern]

Thanks for the educational responses, all!