storing corn seed

How do you store your leftover corn seed to use it the following year? Does this differ from harvesting ears used to save for the following yeears planting?

I had a USDA booklet that said corn stored in below freezing temperatures had a lower germination rate.I keep it in metal cans in the attic.Havent done much seed saving in recent years but will do some this year because of high corn prices.

Better check your license agreement. Saving seeds from commercial corn is illegal in a lot of places.

perhaps I should have clarified. I'm talking a couple of pounds of sweet for the garden plot, and likely I over purchased. As for saving back some ears, like 36 Coupe said, the prices are skyrocketing. I grow Incredible Sweet and being hybrid not sure if it will even produce the following year but thought I may try a few rows.

I used to save leftover corn seed in mouseproof container ands made sure it was in a dry location. Doubt temp makes any difference as I never seen heated buildings for storing seed corn.

Any left over sweet corn would get stored in a drawer in the house, but most times it seems like a waste of space in the field, as the second year it'll hardly produce anything. We don't really plant leftover anymore unless we left a little too much room, but we try to just use it up the year we buy it.

Feild corn, however, still seems to germinate well enough after being in storage for 5 years or more. (for that one odd year where you are about 1/2 a bag too short, even after using any leftover from 1 and 2 years ago...)

Donovan from Wisconsin

Hybred will not make a usuable product but as far as saving left over seed just keep in paper bag that rodents cannot get into. Temperature does not make a difference. Seed companys do not have tenperature controled storage facilities. When you saved the open polinated seed for use they took square 2" pieces of wood and put spike nailes about every 2 1/2" or so 2 ears would fit without hitting and cut the heads of the nails off so they could push the but end of a freshly harvested ear on that spike and hung the units up from the barn rafters or beams so the air would circulate and dry the ears. Then about late March-early april they would set and shell the ears by hand with shelling the small round kernels off one end into one container, then shell the large round kernels off the other into a different container, then the flat kernels in center would shell the small flats to a third container, the large flats to a forth container and finally the medium flats in the last container and that should have the most kernels in and that is what most used till they ran out then go to the large flats but would not use the small kernals of either flat or round untill they needed some for replanting as it was thought the small kernels would not make a viable plant, what was not planted was then fed to the chickens. They saved the best shaped and largest ears for the seed.

Now I don"t want to upset some of you, but I feel I need to make some replies to this post.

Saving seed in heated bldgs, freezers, attics, drawers...you guys are trying to make leftover sweet corn NOT be viable for future years.

Store corn seed (field corn and sweet corn) in dry and cool locations. For leftover sweet corn seed I put the package in a plastic bag and then put it in the lowest part of a refridgerator, but not the freezer area. I have sweet corn seed (Incredible) that is now about 3-4 years old and I will plant it soon and it will grow and produce excellent ears of corn. Buying new sweet corn seed every year is just not needed.

Field corns today are 99.9% hybrids, that is why they call them hybrids. Sweet corn varieties are not hybrids, that"s why they are called varieties. That is also why they do not have the vigor, roots, growth and heighth of hybrids. They are bred for taste, not high yields like hybrids.

For those of you who say you have never seen a seed company store seed in climate controlled bldgs, you need to take a tour of a major seed corn company and see their warehouses (for security reasons you might not get in).

Back in the late 1970s we had a terribly hot summer in the midwest, and next spring a lot of carryover hybrids failed germination tests due to excess heat in storage bldgs. That firm added AC to their storage to correct that problem. I do not know if little seed companies use AC bldgs.

If you are surprised that seed companies sell carryover seed corn, what do you think they do with all the carryover seed...destroy it? If they did, the price you pay now would be a lot higher. As long as seed will "cold test" at 95% germination or higher, it will be the same as seed grown last year. (Have a seed rep today explain to you as to the standards for cold testing.)

I would take "old seed" stored in cool bldgs any day over "new seed" stored in hot bldgs any day of the year.

Years ago the people who stored seed in attics meant well, as that is what they were told to do and it became a custom or part of our culture. Ever been in an attic in old houses in August? Or January?

Sorry fellas, but cool and dry is good.
LA in WI

Whole or partial bags are kept in a plastic or steel 55 gallon barrel with lid. Also have a partial bag of granular soil insecticide in the barrel, so no insects either. Barrel is in the back of a three walled open front equipment building. Barrels are always in the shade and never where it can have sunlight on it so temperature remains more constant. An old non-running refrigerator or freezer would provide a good place to store seed in bags.

I planted the last of my Incredible variety sweet corn last year, it was in its fourth year, stored in a ziplock bag in the basement, if germination suffered I didn't notice. The first year I forgot I had it in the kitchen on the plate rack with full sun all summer, I was worried I ruined it but it was fine. I ordered ten more pounds this year, should last another 4 years.

Nate

The small amount of garden corn seed I have left over I put in the refrigerator. Works fine, no loss of germination for several years. Sorry, don't know how many.

KEH

I have saved hybrid seed and produced a good crop.There is only one way to find out, do it.

The gov bulletin proved that seed exposed to freezing temps had less germination.If I can find the booklet I post what it said.You CAN GROW HYBRID SAVED SEED.Ive done it many times.