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picking flattened corn

6x6

6x6

PMA Member
A question for the guys that farm? I just cash rent my rowcrop, which is only 4 - 12-15 acre cornfields. The majority of my farm is rough Loess Hills timder. I usually buy back a few acres of corn in each field to get the deer through march. We had some big hail about a month and a half ago, and alot of wind since. There is a ton of corn laying on the ground or close.
How much can be picked when its down? Alot is flat, but quite a bit is 6-15 inches off the ground. My farmers equiptment usually leaves very little on the ground. I am trying to determine how much to leave standing this year and how much will be unable to be picked. I assume flat on the ground will stay there, but how low can a farmer, going slow and low, recover the knocked over corn?
 
He will have to pick it only going "one way"... no up and back if you know what I'm trying to say.
 
I have seen some fields that were pretty darn flat and the farmers had no issues picking it. Like mentioned above they can only really go one with with it.
 
It takes longer but they can get it... we had many fields laying flat and they are getting them picked. It is slow going, luckily none of our fields had wind damage
 
I'm not a farmer by any means but we had some real bad wind and flattened corn up in NW Iowa also and I know my dad was telling me that the farmers were able to pick it and get pretty good number to the bushel. Probably is slow going but if the fields I saw were doing ok, I would think yours should be about the same
 
I actually walked around in some harvested corn fields this afternoon on two different properties that I hunt.

A lot of full ears of corn remained on the ground. Kernels of corn scattered everywhere.

If we don’t get much deep snow and ice, it should be a good year for wildlife to forage for food.
 
If the weather remains dry and the leaves stay dry it will make a huge difference on what the combine will pick up(allows the snoots and stalks to slide better). The drier it is the more he will save and by the looks of it its going to stay dry. Good luck down corn makes for a long day in the combine!!
 
I would say 10% minimum left on the ground, between ear satire and just not being able to pick it up. Hopefully he did a good job of picking up rocks last spring!
 
also depends on how level the ground is....if it's realtively flat, it'll be a helluva lot easier than hilly ground.
 
Yeah its mostly flat ground, just a little up and down. I am assumeing he will get most of what is laying towards the combine,as he goes, but not nearly as much of the stalks that are laying in the same direction. I was walking through a field yesterday moving a camera, and could not believe how much was down in the middle and the deer are hammering it, probably making it even harder to get. I was just wondering how much of the stuff flat or close he would be able to get? Now I know where some of the bucks I have been looking for have been hideing. They sure like that corn on the ground. From the looks of it the deer are gonna eat very good this winter untill the snow gets deep.
 
Was this in an area with both hail and wind or just wind? If it had both we are getting a little over half of it in the bad areas and if it just got wind we are able to pick up the majority of it.
Those hail and wind damaged fields will feed alot of wildlife this winter.
 
We had hail and strong wind at the same time a month and half ago which knocked down some but since then we have had quite a bit of strong wind which has knocked a ton more down. I suppose it was weakened by the original hail/wind damage. Like I said, I cash rent it to my neighbor and buy back a few acres in each field and leave standing, so the more that stays on the ground the better for me and the deer/turkeys. Just trying to figure out how much to leave standing this year. I will probably leave the same amount since they need it the most when the snow is deep where they can find it. I like to leave just enough so that its all gone by the end of march. Its corn every year so I dont want a problem with volunteer corn. Thanks
 
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