Rauch

im looking to plant a half acre of corn and anted to know what some cheap stuff was i know round up ready is about 100$ a bag and it plants like 3 acres so that is more than i need can i just go to the local mill and ask for seed corn if so how much do i need? how deep do i need to plant it? when do you need to plant it? soil is already limed to 6.5 so i just need to get everything ready to go

psandhu

i planted some feed corn last year, just as an experiment on 1/4 acre. broadcast then disked. it's $5 for a 50 lb bag. it grew.

Rauch

did the deer eat it that sounds like just that thing im looking for cheap and easy LOL anyways you didnt fertilize? i gues ill try that this year

psandhu

something ate it. raccoons, opossums, other rodents, deer? i don't know. i put down a 40 lb bag of 12-12-12 with the seeds. if i did it all over again, i would probably try to plant a little earlier, like when all the farmers are doing their planting of the same type of crop. i had planted winter wheat about 6 months earlier, and ran out of seed before being able to plant the whole area. so this was basically a bare spot in my food plot. planting the feed corn was a little spur of the moment 30 minute project. i had seen some spots around a timer feeder where the corn had fallen in a crack and germinated.

RonM

Dekalb and Asgrow RR starts at about $113. a unit which is 80,000 and will plant 3 acres, the way we plant population of 26-27000. One of the best inexpensive varieties is Fielders Choice for about $46. a bag of similar size, use what you need and save it for the next year, it will keep, germination might get knocked a very little, just plant thicker stand. Also Fielders is not RR, so cultivate it to keep the weeds ddown., and keep the weeds down you must. You cant grow two crops in the same space... (weeds and corn)

Russ otten

My brother-in-law, now retired, used to raise a lot of Yellow Jarvis, which is not a hybrid corn. I used to shuck out a couple of 5 gal. pails and plant it. Would go about 2-3 acres. You can save seed for the next year because it comes back true, which don't always happen with hybrids. A word of warning. If you save seed, treat it with an insect killer (Malathion works good) or you will open it up next year and a flock of little miller moths will fly out and when checking the seed you will find tiny holes in it. So seal it in an air tight container.

Russ

Rauch

is there an innoculant for corn??

LLBUX

Seed corn is treated with insecticide rather than a seed inoculant. The seed inoculant you likely mean is a bacteria that is meant to stimulate nodules on the roots of soybeans. These nodules take nitrogen out of the air and fix it in the roots so the plant can feed on the nitrogen. It doesn't work that way on corn, only legumes such as beans, clover and alfalfa.

You can use regular feed corn. It will come up in lots of different sizes and characteristics since it is the offspring of hybrid seed. That is not a problem given its intended use. I would consider planting it in rows rather than spreading it out and disking it in. You'll have much better germination. The rows will pollinate better as well. Use a garden seeder and sweet corn plate. It will take a bit more time but the seed will be planted at the right depth(about 1-2") and will come up faster with less die-off. Plant in mid April for best yield.

This info comes from a lifetime on the farm and 20 years as an Ag Teacher. Hope it helps!

farm hunter

"Silage Corn" runs about $45.00- 50.00/bag (80,000 seeds). I've used that with good results.

A farmer friend told me to ask for "Floor Corn" wich is bagged up off the floor of a grainery - it often has mixed seeds (85 days, 95 days, 110 days - etc) - which for deer WHO CARES - its probably better since we leave it. Supposedly its REAL CHEAP - but so far, my source have never had it available.

Mantis Mayer

Can I sneek in here? I hope this isn't too stupid of a question..........Does corn have to be planted in rows? Is this for harvesting or does the plant need the space.....Man this sounds stupid but I'm serious. Thanks guys!