How would you plant this plot?

Lucid · Mar 7, 2018

I cut off a small slice of my family farm to grow sweet corn this year. Having a bit of a time overthinking how to do the rows. It's not square. I can get a good 32-36' wide x about 100yds long with good margins to turn around. The left over triangle has me wondering if I should just do rows till I need to turn around or just plant something different?

Maybe the folks here could gimme some ideas!

Will be using my Farmal 200 to disc, plant, and cultivate. Then hand pick. Have a 2 row planter, and sidedressers to put in fertilizer.

Pic is google earth view. The red lines is the boundary, and yellow lines are approx. width mentioned above. Land left of yellow I need some help with. Thanks

SVcummins · Mar 8, 2018

Plant along the red line when the triangle gets to
small to turn around raise the planter and back up to
plant the short rows

willie in mn · Mar 8, 2018

The term "overthinking" answers your question.
Start planting along the tree line at left of your photo. Plant your 8-10-12 rows & call it good.
There will be a slight angle at the ends, but not more than 1 or 2 plants. There will also be a slight angle at the end of the larger field, but not enough to worry about. Actually the same angle as there is now, just moved over a bit.
HTH

Willie

paul · Mar 8, 2018

Good luck on the critters coming out of the woods to take your corn, -that- is where you need to be thinking.......

With a 2 row planter, I would make two passes (one round) along the red line.

And make 2 passes (one round) along the tree line.

This would leave a triangle in the middle. Pick either side and finish planting, as you hit the other rows in the peaks of the triangle stop planting.

Cultivating you will either take out a bit extra corn, or you will need to hoe the bits of triangles that you can't get the citlivator into. Yes you will be
turning around on some growing corn, but that is farming.

Some would start at your red line and just plant over to the trees, when you hit the grass/tree line stop planting make shorter rows. That works
too, but I struggle to spray or harvest or cultivate properly when I have those ragged rows come out on the edge. Perhaps for your small and
non spray operation this would work well too tho.

Paul

flying belgian · Mar 8, 2018

I would make the red line parallel with the tree line. No triangle for you or the family farm.

Lucid · Mar 10, 2018

Thanks for the ideas everyone. Getting my planter ready, need to select my seed. Last year I planted "Allure" sweet corn and it did very well. Might use that again.

I wish would have done what flying belgian suggested before I committed last fall. I have wheat in the field already. Sure would've been easier! Maybe next year.

Will post pics of the plot sometime this summer.

flying belgian · Mar 11, 2018

You mean you planted the wheat as cover crop? What does that have to do with anything? So a bit of your corn will be in ground with no cover and a bit of family farm will be planted
in ground with cover. Everyones crop will still be ok.

Lucid · Mar 11, 2018

The field to the right of the red line was planted with wheat in the fall. Will be harvested in June here. I cut off the portion to the left of line before the wheat was planted. Family farm is share cropped since the 70's.

paul · Mar 12, 2018

If it is your wheat, pretty easy to work that right up and plant your corn. Lot easier to handle irregular boundaries in a small grain feild than in a
corn row crop field, so one always plans ahead to get a rectangular corn field, make the beans or small grain the funny shape.

Not too late if it's your crop.

Paul

Lucid · Apr 23, 2018

Well I got 12 rows planted today. Used new to me 251 two row planter. Been messing with it last few weekends to get it right. Laid in fertilizer at same time. Hopefully it will be a nice stand. Will plant tye rest in couple weeks or less..

How would you plant this plot?

Lucid

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SVcummins

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willie in mn

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paul

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flying belgian

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Lucid

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flying belgian

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Lucid

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paul

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Lucid

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