Open pollen corn

millstead · May 05, 2016, 07:34:46 AM

I have decided to switch my interests a little from sawing to farming. I'm going to plant some corn to feed some beef cattle. I bought reed open pollen corn I choose open pollen corn because I'm hopping to use it for seed next year. The ground is plowed and disced and when it dries out a little I'm going to run over it with a spring tooth and plant the corn. My planter is a johndeere plateless and I'll be planting 23,000 to the acre in 36 rows with 250lbs of 10-20-20 fertilizer per acre,and then after the corn comes Up spray with liquid nitrogen and a herbicide. My question is what is a good herbicide to use that you won't need a license to buy. I am scheduled to take the test to get my spray license next week but they told me it would take a month for me get the license after taking the test. Also farming is new to me and if anyone has any advice on growing corn or sees something with wrong with the way I have outlined my plan let me know. Thanks in advance for all the help

Corley5 · May 05, 2016, 08:32:03 AM

You don't have neighbors growing corn ??? 2-4D for broadleaf weeds in corn comes to mind.

millstead · May 05, 2016, 08:52:12 AM

If I had neighbors growing corn I wouldn't have asked

Corley5 · May 05, 2016, 09:15:37 AM

;) :D Had to ask

H.O.D. · May 05, 2016, 10:07:55 AM

Your plan sounds good to me. You can use over the counter Glyphosate..known as Roundup..or I get 2.5 gal concentrat called GlyStar Plus.Its should be avalible local to you..from Albaugh,Inc..Ankeny, Iowa. Follow instruction on sheet for corn. Just be sure your corn is Roundup Ready and be very sure your spray equip is clean of all residue before you use it for another purpose.

OneWithWood · May 05, 2016, 10:18:47 AM

Contact your local Soil and Water Conservation District and the NRCS District Conservationist. For someone just starting out they can be an invaluable resource.

H.O.D. · May 05, 2016, 10:21:21 AM

I would get a soil sample from your field..only cost fourteen bucks here. Best money spent as it will target your fert and lime needs for corn and produce a higher yield and quality. Do a search for growing corn in your area..it will lead you to much more info and agricultural advice.

Gary_C · May 05, 2016, 10:55:55 AM

If it was me, I'd forget the open pollinated corn idea. Especially if you are planting at that high a seed count per acre and at 36 inch rows. Under those crowded conditions in the rows you are potentially going to have short stalks and small ears with other problems depending on variety. Modern hybrids are bred for closer spacing in the rows and you are risking a lot on an older variety of open pollinated corn.

As far as chemicals, you are always best with pre emergence rather than post emergence products. If you are planting corn for the first time in a field, you are most likely going to have a grass problem and that is best dealt with pre emergence. I doubt much of any thing you will need to use is not restricted use. Again if it was me, I'd find someone in the crop spraying business and travel some distance to find someone that can apply your chemicals for you. It's well worth the costs.

millstead · May 05, 2016, 03:04:07 PM

I was thinking of using me-too-Lachlor to spray with its a generic form of dual 2 magnum . At 23000 per acre that puts the seed at 7 1/2 inches apart if I plant 21000 per acre that puts the corn 8 1/4 inches apart and 20000 per acre would plant 8 3/4 apart . Now I could plant 34 inch rows or 32 inch rows would 3/4 of an inch in seed spacing make that much of a difference . I like the idea of open pollen for several reasons the protein is a higher percent it's has more minerals than conventional and you can save seed and use it again next year. I have seen open pollen corn that was tested and came back at 11% protein.

sandsawmill14 · May 05, 2016, 04:03:10 PM

millstead its been years since i raised any corn (commercially) so i dont know if these are still available ??? but with the corn you have you will need to spray atrazine pre emerge to control grass 2-4-d for broadleaf weeds and then just plow it when you have to

beacon is the only thing i know of that will kill johnson grass in corn but as i said its been years since so they may have another option or not even still make these herbicides anymore. we used to use round up on a wick or in a hand sprayer on johnson grass but it WILL KILL any of the corn it touches so you got to be careful. we always planted 38" rows with about 8" seed spacing but i have no idea about the seed count but im not sure you are using enough fertilize for that kind of stand i always broadcast 60-60-60 (400lb 15-15-15) right before planting then side dress with another 200 lb of urea ( 46-0-0) and plow it in just before the corn got to big to plow. if you use urea you MUST plow it in if you use ammonia nitrate you should plow it in ;) if it got any water it would make pretty good corn. good luck with it

bucknwfl · May 05, 2016, 09:48:28 PM

I plant around 20000 per acre. I am with Gary c. Pre emerge to start with but if you are not experienced you can throw a lot of money out the window quickly. Depending on corn prices you can buy a lot of corn for what you will have in seed, fertilizer, herbicide, and fuel. At best you are going to make 4 trips across the field. We have been using round up ready corn the last two years and have had great yields but last year I saved a few hundred dollars growing my own compared to if I had just bought shelled corn. It was cheap last year. I am in Florida too. All that being said it is fun and rewarding to farm it is no different than anything else there is a learning curve and learning cost you one way or the other. Good luck and have fun

Buck

killamplanes · May 05, 2016, 10:57:17 PM

well I decided to chime in. I'm a commercial cropduster. Own a flying service (12yrs). And me and my 2 brothers and dad farm 3k acres and have a cattle operation. I have a self propelled jd ground rig 90ft booms. Here we have roundup corn and convention (non gmo) plant at 32k population. But when I farmed in northern ms I planted 27k pop. I use a formula 1.2 units of actual nitrogen per bushel of expected yield IE 100bushel corn gets 120 units of nitrogen. here we have anhydrous though dry urea is commin most anywhere. theres an endless amount of corn herbicides I hate to even go there. Open pollinated corn is very uncommon here other than the uses for seed corn production Pioneer, Monsanto etc. My advice is find some nearby farmer and copy him. That's what I did when I had farms in Mississippi. And it worked very well for me.

Gary_C · May 06, 2016, 01:49:10 AM

Back in the days when open pollinated corn was the normal, farmers were happy with 75-80 bushel yields. Today input prices are so much higher that most corn farmers are expecting 200 bushel yields and they get those yields with modern hybrids that will tolerate tight spacing, cold soils and use roundup ready corn hybrids to keep chemical costs down. And around here most all of that corn is already planted and has been for a week or two.

What you are proposing to do is no longer the norm and not economically feasible. The question you have to ask yourself is can you afford to risk all your input costs and get next to nothing in returns. Because when you look out on a field of grass with some short yellowed corn that is not much taller than the grass, there is no backing up and starting over. I guess you could always bale it unless you try to rescue it with a lot of atrazine.

sandsawmill14 · May 06, 2016, 06:30:36 AM

if you dont have a cultivator you shouldnt even try it

im quite a bit south of you but there is no way to raise the old varieties without plowing. pre emerge will help but it will have to be plowed at least twice

Ragnard · May 09, 2016, 01:13:50 AM

Quote from: millstead on May 05, 2016, 07:34:46 AM
I have decided to switch my interests a little from sawing to farming. I'm going to plant some corn to feed some beef cattle. I bought reed open pollen corn I choose open pollen corn because I'm hopping to use it for seed next year. The ground is plowed and disced and when it dries out a little I'm going to run over it with a spring tooth and plant the corn. My planter is a johndeere plateless and I'll be planting 23,000 to the acre in 36 rows with 250lbs of 10-20-20 fertilizer per acre,and then after the corn comes Up spray with liquid nitrogen and a herbicide. My question is what is a good herbicide to use that you won't need a license to buy. I am scheduled to take the test to get my spray license next week but they told me it would take a month for me get the license after taking the test. Also farming is new to me and if anyone has any advice on growing corn or sees something with wrong with the way I have outlined my plan let me know. Thanks in advance for all the help

Are you feeding cattle for market or the freezer?
Do you own the land for corn or renting it?

I just want to understand your thought process.

millstead · May 11, 2016, 10:15:24 PM

I am raising corn for beef cattle where raising for market its our farm so there's no rent. I have almost all the equipment I will need. The ground is plowed disc and harrowed ready to plant wants I get a dry day. I have a sprayer so I can spray and I have a four row 3 point cultivator. I think I may cultivate instead of spraying I'm only putting 10 acres of corn in so I don't think cultivating would be that bad. Thanks for all the help

Ragnard · May 19, 2016, 11:36:13 PM

You can buy 2000 bu. for less than you're planning to raise it for. Buy a truck and maybe put up a bin later, you'll be much further ahead.

ozarkgem · May 20, 2016, 09:05:19 PM

I think open pollinated if worth more per bushel than GMO or hybrid. I think there is a good market for it with the small organic homesteads. Or you could figure gallons per acre making shine.

killamplanes · May 21, 2016, 07:47:35 AM

Now thats what im talkin about :D :D

kensfarm · May 21, 2016, 10:37:53 PM

I have a cultivator setup to match my planter row spacing.. I used this for sweet corn mostly.. but other veggies too when young. I would space plants at 4 inches for 36 rows(this is old time row spacing).. narrow rows is the norm now. It would be easier to get a bag of RR corn.. w/ a clean disked field to plant on.. you might only have to spray RR one time before the corn starts to canopy. You don't need liquid fertilizer to spray.. you can just use cone spreader... dry fertilizer is cheaper. Of course a lot depends on how many acres are you planting? If you are only spraying your farm.. you may not need spray license.

I would cut green stalks w/ bladed string trimmer before corn ready and fill up the FEL to feed.. the cattle love it. We couldn't believe how tall this corn was.. perfect growing season. Good luck!