Corn harvesting: Picker or Combine?

You could harvest corn with the grain head. Try to cut just below the ears but you will run a lot more of the corn stalks and leaves through the combine and probably flush more corn out the back.

It might be more profitable to hire the harvest with modern equipment done in a day or two than to keep up with the repairs of rotting parts in an antique combine with limited parts availability. I don't think Deere keeps those parts on hand anymore, I know 3300 and 4400 parts are disappearing from the Shoup catalog as the more modern machines do a better job. 100 family combine parts are getting rare, but when used they wear and break too.

Or fence the field and let the pigs do the harvest over the winter. They will eat stalks, leaves, and corn.

Gerald J.

My concern with hiring it done is the actual getting it done as folks are having a hard enough time getting their own harvest in. Also, there is the issue of cross contamination of their type of corn (conventional, GMO), with the open pollinated, organic I grow.

And you say don't save the seed, as it won't do any good...I use open pollinated Reid's Yellow Dent, which is an heirloom variety competitive in yield with most anything from Pioneer, etc according to the few field trials I have seen which have compared OP with hybrid.

Hogging it down is an option I have considered, as is baling the stalks, ears and all. But that presents me with management issues, also. Mainly that I need to gather them towards the house for access to water and electricity to keep water thawed, etc. My plan, as well, is to keep the feed in storage ahead of the hogs, if that makes sense. Bottom line is I think I need the availability of harvesting equipment.

MoPete,
I pick with a NI 2 row, and run corn with our F2.  I agree with the previous post that the ear corn can dry on its own in the crib.  We then grind that for our cattle and horses.  However we let some corn stay in the field as long as possible so it can dry down naturally, as we have no drying facility on the farm.  We grind this for the pig feed to get the right protein contents.  My FIL is old fashioned, so ear corn gets ground for cows and horses, and shell corn gets ground for pigs and chickens.  It seems to work for us. But I am patient enough to finish the harvest late....Still have 40 acres out.

WF owner wrote: I am old fashioned and I still like ear corn. The advantage of ear corn is no drying costs. Put it in the crib and take it out when you are ready to grind. The disadvantages are that ear corn is a lot more work. It obviously doesn't flow well, so there is a lot more labor involved in the operation. Pickers, with husking beds, are getting hard to find.

The extra labor is not too much of an issue as I am doing so few acres. But tell me more about the husking beds. I am not familiar with that.

Shelled corn is much easier to handle, but it has to be dried. Transportation and drying costs can add up quickly, if it has to be transported off the farm for drying. Have you thought of harvesting high moisture ear corn with a forage harvester with a snapper head and a recutter screen and storing it in an Ag Bag? I know there is a lot more trash in the corn, but I can't see why it wouldn't work well for hogs.

I think that would be very cost prohibitive for me, though likely a good option if I were planning for more acres across which to spread the cost.

Edited by MoPete - 29 Dec 2014 at 7:05am

Joe(OH) wrote: I still pick some. If you decide to pick make sure you have some place that will buy your extra.

How long will it keep in a crib? That's definitely an issue although I suppose I could just buy more feeder pigs if I had extra. I really do want the feed ahead of the hogs.

Corn will last a while in the crib.  We typically go through two cribs a year.  They are refilled each fall.  However, last year, we took corn out of a neighbors crib, that had been there three years.  The outside had been picked over good by the birds, but the inside was a clean and yellow as the day we picked it. 

where in MO are you?

What is your budget?

Do you mind if the combine is a gasser?

I personally would keep an eye out for a good Gleaner machine, the 105 seemed a little crude in my opinion.

100 acres of corn to pick is a lot. We do 10 acres with a one row picker and it takes two days to do:)

victoryallis wrote: DO NOT USE BIN RUN SEED OR OPEN POLLINATED SEED! Even a close out non GMO will out yeild either other option. You would be better off calling a few seed dealers and asking for their cheapest seed in your maturiy. Ear corn is ok if you do 10-20 acres 100 would get old quick. When my grandfather farmed he would pic two wagons first thing in the morning after milking. He then would slowly unload them to make sure he got every husk. In Missouri you should be able to get corn pretty dry in the field. My thoughts are get some sort F or K 100 acres with a K was not the end off the world. I have learned that the cheapest initial option can cost more very quickly. Hogs don't really like the extra ruffage from the cobs either.

Do you have personal experience with OP seed?

WC7610 wrote: NI pull type corn picker (so you don't tie up a tractor forever).  It will store indefinitely if you have a good roof on your crib and pick it below 20%

that was what I had in mind if I went the picker route. I don't see myself getting in too big of a hurry so I should be able to let it dry better than 20%. If I went the mounted route, how difficult is it to mount and ... dismount?

Thanks. I do too.

get a pull type picker if you are going that route. or a self propelled. you can still get most parts for the new idea pickers i know. the other thing to think about is to buy multiple of the same model so you will have parts.

Go with a pull type corn picker for now. If you have too much earn corn, just rig up a gravity wagon that feeds your JD45 combine. That way you could shell the excess. You could bin it or haul it away. If you are patient, you may find an older 2 or 3 row corn head & combine package deal at auction?? They usually go cheap around here.
How good does the Reid's Yellow Dent stand through storms during late fall & winter??

o-k...found it...it's the jan 21st 2015 sale on BIGIRON.com...pics and descriptions under "harvest equipment"...3 dif units 2 pull type and one mounted with tractor. at Topeka, Ks.

bobkyllo wrote: get a pull type picker if you are going that route. or a self propelled. you can still get most parts for the new idea pickers i know. the other thing to think about is to buy multiple of the same model so you will have parts.

Thanks. That makes good sense.