Growing Corn

[lrunge]

My brother and I have decided to grow 2 acres of feed corn. The use is to burn in a couple of corn stoves. I know it is probably cheaper to just go buy the corn. However, we just want to try this. My brother has a Kubota 2910 and about 70 acres. It is in northern Kentucky (Cincinnati metro)
The two acres we want to use has had corn and pumpkins grown on it about 5-6 years ago and nothing since. It's all fescue now.
We have grown vegetables but never feed corn. He has had sheep, cattle, hogs, horses, etc in the past so he knows what farm type work requires.

We know we need to plow and disc. We have a 2 row planter.
What else do we need or need to do.
Some questions:
1. what is a good feed corn? Needs to dry good as need 12 to 15% max moisture.
2. What is a good fertilizer, how often etc.
3. Should we use a hybrid roundup resistance corn to help in weed control
I am sure there are more questions.

I know we will have to address how to harvest, dry if needed, and shell somehow.
What else do we need to know? (besides being told we don't want to do this).

 

[Robert_in_NY]

First thing is you need to find someone who will be willing to harvest a 2 acre field and how much they will charge. Generally it is around $35 an acre to harvest only but that is when you have a good size field. A 2 acre field is not going to be worth it for most guys to come in and put the head on the combine, turn around a couple times and have to take the head back off to go down the road. They will nail you with a minimum charge and will easily make it much more expensive then to buy your own.

If you can find a guy with an older, smaller combine he might be willing to do this size job but I would be looking for a guy to harvest it before I worried about anything else.

Once you find someone willing to harvest a small patch then go talk to your seed dealer and take a soil sample to him to send out. When the results come back he will be able to tell you what to do for your area, the type of seed you choose (he will help you choose), and what fertilizer/lime you will need to apply, when and how.

 

[Ford850]

The harvester will also want some input on how you plant it. Row spacing, etc.

 

[schmism]

how about a single or 2 row picker, tow behind the tractor.

seems perfect for the hobby farm 2 acer size

 

[RobJ]

One thing you can't control unless you irrigate. Corn does need water. 90-120 day crop but you have to have rain.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

how about a single or 2 row picker, tow behind the tractor.

seems perfect for the hobby farm 2 acer size

These pickers are getting hard to find in good shape and the guys looking for them want them as collectables which is keeping the price up. You then need a sheller and a tractor powerful enough to run it and pull it and a wagon thru mud if you are in a rainy spell.

You can also find older combines for around $1k or so that will do a good job in corn.

 

[Luremaker]

Irunge, take a look at these 2 links from the ibruncorn.com (corn stove owner's web forum). Lots of good info. Most guys think it is not worth the effort while others love the fact that they can grow an acre or two of corn.

forum.iburncorn.com :: View topic - Economics of growing your own corn?

http://forum.iburncorn.com/wiki/index.php/Grow_my_Own

 

[TNhobbyfarmer]

My brother and I have decided to grow 2 acres of feed corn. The use is to burn in a couple of corn stoves. I know it is probably cheaper to just go buy the corn. However, we just want to try this. My brother has a Kubota 2910 and about 70 acres. It is in northern Kentucky (Cincinnati metro)
The two acres we want to use has had corn and pumpkins grown on it about 5-6 years ago and nothing since. It's all fescue now.
We have grown vegetables but never feed corn. He has had sheep, cattle, hogs, horses, etc in the past so he knows what farm type work requires.

We know we need to plow and disc. We have a 2 row planter.
What else do we need or need to do.
Some questions:
1. what is a good feed corn? Needs to dry good as need 12 to 15% max moisture.
2. What is a good fertilizer, how often etc.
3. Should we use a hybrid roundup resistance corn to help in weed control
I am sure there are more questions.

I know we will have to address how to harvest, dry if needed, and shell somehow.
What else do we need to know? (besides being told we don't want to do this).

I have planted 3 acres of corn the last few years. I plant for the wildlife (mostly deer) so I don't have to worry about harvesting. I just leave some standing and bushog some. I would definitely plant roundup ready corn so you can fight the weeds with a sprayer. Also, it takes a lot of lime and fertilizer to get a decent yield, and as mentioned earlier, without enough rain, the yield can be from poor to nonexitent.

With all that said, it is quite satisfying to watch your corn field grow to maturity. You are like me, not so much doing it for the economics but rather for the fun of it. Hey, golf, fishing, hunting, etc. aren't cost effective but are relaxing. I say if you want to try it, go for it. You'll have fun, learn a lot, and get the satisfaction of doing it yourself.

 

[schmism]

These pickers are getting hard to find in good shape and the guys looking for them want them as collectables which is keeping the price up. You then need a sheller and a tractor powerful enough to run it and pull it and a wagon thru mud if you are in a rainy spell.

You can also find older combines for around $1k or so that will do a good job in corn.

This is true... a trip around the county in my area will net about 3 said combines siting out front... some with corn and bean heads.

My friend bought a 4 row head JD for about that. takes a bunch of fiddlin, but once it's set, works really well.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I have planted 3 acres of corn the last few years. I plant for the wildlife (mostly deer) so I don't have to worry about harvesting. I just leave some standing and bushog some. I would definitely plant roundup ready corn so you can fight the weeds with a sprayer. Also, it takes a lot of lime and fertilizer to get a decent yield, and as mentioned earlier, without enough rain, the yield can be from poor to nonexitent.

With all that said, it is quite satisfying to watch your corn field grow to maturity. You are like me, not so much doing it for the economics but rather for the fun of it. Hey, golf, fishing, hunting, etc. aren't cost effective but are relaxing. I say if you want to try it, go for it. You'll have fun, learn a lot, and get the satisfaction of doing it yourself.

On the flip side, it is quite disappointing to watch your corn wither from lack of rain and you get no yield at all. Recently it seems like feast or famine when it comes to farming. Two years ago I had so much rain I couldn't get a second cutting of hay because the fields were saturated. They didn't dry down till September and by then the days were too short up here to dry the hay. Last year there was no rain at all and there was a very poor first cutting and no second cutting. My corn fields did ok as they were on ground that holds moisture and were planted into sod. My grass and alfalfa fields I planted grew a great crop of weeds as that is the only thing that wants to grow with no water

For the OP, if you do plant corn get it in the ground as soon as the ground is ready to take advantage of the early rains. If you wait because you don't have the time and miss the main rains you will be praying for rain all year.

Good luck.