Corn question

Next question is, I mowed and disked in the stalks last year and planted Rye for a cover crop. Do I still need to top dress this year, or should I make out ok? I hate to add to the cost and buy fertilizer when I don"t need to. It"s getting nearly a foot tall already with no sign of slowing in growth. Problem is, once it gets too tall, I can"t drive the tractor down the rows to broadcast, so I need to make a decision soon.

Thanks for your help.

Jay

Seems kind of funny. I am trying to run the family farm now without the help from my Grandfather and Father. When they were around, I couldn't be bothered with helping around the farm. Fishing, Hunting, and screwing around with my friends was more improtant. I assumed there would always be time to learn. Well, my mistake. My Grandfather passed away in 1992, and then my Dad at only 55 in 1996. So there went my chance to "always have time to learn". Now if I want to keep farm status for taxes, I need to be working the land. I have all their equipment, but none of their knowledge. I should also mention that they were primarly vegetable farmers. I have decided on the animals because it seems to be easier to butcher them rather than babysit a roadside stand or go to the farmers markets. I have 8 acres total. Some is a large vegetable garden for home use. I'm only doing 2 1/2 acres until I learn and get results because it seems to be something I can manage myself.

Thanks again everyone for the help. I'll try letting the corn stand until drier, I may even try to dry some of the stalks as mentioned.

I'll keep my eyes open for a 1 row corn picker too. Trucking won't be too hard, but looking at all the junk until I find something worth buying will put a lot of miles on.

Jay

You do need to store picked corn in a crib, with openings for airflow, and no more than 6-8' wide. Use 1x4s with a 1-1.5" gap between boards for all sides.

When picking by hand, how did you get the husks? Should be picking it fairly clean in the field, doesn't take much longer to shuck it on the stalk than to break the whole ear & husk off.... Not that I envy that task or wish it on you again. :)

For silage, you need to store it air-tight, no oxygen allowed in it. Some folks do garbage bags/ drums/ plastic tubs. You must, MUST pack it tight, no air in it, no air pockets or space for O2 to be, and seal it tight. Then it would keep.

You can start feeding some critters 'greenchop' as soon as the ears get milky. Cut the whole stem off, feed it to them within 48 hours. I use a corn knife & chop a hayrack full, feed 1/2 one day, 1/2 the next. Cattle like it, supplements the pasture as fall dry time produces little grass. You do need to be careful on overfeeding it, introduce slowly & be sure they get other feeds as well. Only know cattle, don't know how to do other critters, but this is an option perhaps - depending on when you need feed. I can continue to do this until the corn is totally ripe, tho the leaves & stalks get to be a pain to deal with when dry.

As well, after you harvest the grain out of the corn, you can let the critters eat the field down - they graze out the leaves, dropped ears, and a bit of stalks. Again, not a complete feed, but pretty easy to string up a single wire, electrify it, & let them forage. saves hay, need to supliment some energy.

In fact, for the hogs you can just fence the 2.5 acres & let them run - they will pick out the ears & have a hey day!!!! Should last them a while, tho they do make a mess of some of it. Let them harvest it.

Corn & rye are both grasses, and grasses take a heck of a lot of N to grow. You likely will need a little N to go for top yield. Might as well add a little bit of P & K in the mix then too.... The rye helped build your soil, and it helps control some weed seedlings, and it sucked up N & a bit of P & K last fall & returned that to your soil this spring; however it did not _add_ anything that was not already there. But if you added manure to this 2.5 acres you might have all needs covered????

As someone said, a little legume with the rye would help fix N, really almost make you not need any fert if you get a little manure for the P & K needs.

A soil test every 4 years is not a bad idea, find out where you are at, & what direction you are heading over time, adding too much or takin away too much of anything.

--->Paul

Also, how are you storing your corn and did you pick it before dry down?

You may want to buy an old stalk shredder also. Very few folks use them anymore and they usually sell for iron price.

As far as fertilizer goes, how much corn do you need ? If 100 bu (about 2 1/2 ton) is enough, you may not need a lot of fertilizer.

I would guess that UCONN still does soil testing. Take a soil sample and sent it to them. Ask them for a fertilizer recommendation for the amount of corn that you need. If you add some hairy vetch to your rye cover crop, it might fix enough nitrogen for you.

In any case, I would not put good money after bad until you get the mechanics of harvest and storage worked out. Also, growing corn on corn is hard on your soil.

Greg

Seems kind of funny. I am trying to run the family farm now without the help from my Grandfather and Father. When they were around, I couldn"t be bothered with helping around the farm. Fishing, Hunting, and screwing around with my friends was more improtant. I assumed there would always be time to learn. Well, my mistake. My Grandfather passed away in 1992, and then my Dad at only 55 in 1996. So there went my chance to "always have time to learn". Now if I want to keep farm status for taxes, I need to be working the land. I have all their equipment, but none of their knowledge. I should also mention that they were primarly vegetable farmers. I have decided on the animals because it seems to be easier to butcher them rather than babysit a roadside stand or go to the farmers markets. I have 8 acres total. Some is a large vegetable garden for home use. I"m only doing 2 1/2 acres until I learn and get results because it seems to be something I can manage myself.

Thanks again everyone for the help. I"ll try letting the corn stand until drier, I may even try to dry some of the stalks as mentioned.

I"ll keep my eyes open for a 1 row corn picker too. Trucking won"t be too hard, but looking at all the junk until I find something worth buying will put a lot of miles on.

Jay