Picking ear corn
Printed From: Unofficial Allis
Category: Allis Chalmers
Forum Name: Farm Equipment
Forum Description: everything about Allis-Chalmers farm equipment
URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=135431
Printed Date: 07 Oct 2025 at 12:33pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.10 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Picking ear corn
Posted By: Ryan Renko
Subject: Picking ear corn
Date Posted: 23 Feb 2017 at 8:00pm
| My brother and I have very fond memories of picking ear corn back in the day with our father. We are considering buying a picker again just to use this fall to reminisce about the lost good 'ol days of our childhood. Question is, who buys ear corn nowadays?? And packaging it for squirrel feed is not a option. We need a source to buy a wagon full. Should we forget about the idea?? Ryan |
Replies:
Posted By: acd21man
Date Posted: 23 Feb 2017 at 8:05pm
|
you could get you a sweet corn picker and sale some at the farmers market lol ------------- 2 wd 45,2 D-17 diesel/gas 3 pt, 220,d21, 4020,2 4430s used daily http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCudh8Xz9_rZHhUC3YNozupw |
Posted By: LeonR2013
Date Posted: 23 Feb 2017 at 8:11pm
| I wouldn't be surprised you could pull your wagon to a farmers market and sell the heck out of it in the fall. If you wanted to spend the time. |
Posted By: den/southern illinoi
Date Posted: 23 Feb 2017 at 8:19pm
|
We had a local beef farmer that would buy all the ear corn we could raise on the 6 acres we had access to. Said that he just put less roughage in the mix when he ground feed. Den ------------- Own 4 wheel 20, 2-5015, 5020 and associated equipment and 2 electric forklifts. |
Posted By: desertjoe
Date Posted: 23 Feb 2017 at 8:21pm
|
I too got them memories bout pickin corn by hand way back then,,,cause that was our only'ist source of ,,,,money,,,, not hankerin to go back to them "good old days",,,tho,,, But you put some sweet corn in front of me and,,,,I'M IN,,!!!!  |
Posted By: victoryallis
Date Posted: 23 Feb 2017 at 8:33pm
|
I picked a wagon of it still have 4/5 of it. Squirrel corn moves slow. ------------- 8030 and 8050MFWD, 7580, 3 6080's, 160, 7060, 175, heirloom D17, Deere 8760 |
Posted By: shameless (ne)
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2017 at 3:41am
| lots of city bots that raise a few calves for butchering like buying ear corn |
Posted By: Butch(OH)
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2017 at 4:09am
| Same here, TSC has no troubles selling the heck out of it, same people probably buy the firewood they sell, LOL. We run a shredder at our fall show and that corn plus a load we pick goes into a mini crib. Some gets sold over the winter for birds squirrels and such. The rest we shell at the next year's show. I am pretty sure that if I wanted to waste away my Saturday mornings all summer long that I could sell a good bit of it at the local "farmers" market. |
Posted By: Gary Burnett
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2017 at 6:05am
Grinding ear corn for cattle is better than shelled corn as it adds fiber plus weight wise the cob has just as much food value as the kernels and its easier on the cattle's digestive system. |
den/southern illinoi wrote:Posted By: LeonR2013
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2017 at 6:19am
| Gary, that's exactly the way we fedour cattle in the fall and winter. Took very little hay and the cows wintered great and we just didn't have any calf loss because the cows weren't pulled down and weak. |
Posted By: Gary Burnett
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2017 at 6:29am
Snappers used to be popular around here too, that left the shuck on the ear and it also added fiber to the ground mix good cattle feed.We had a snapper and think it was an AC very simple machine. |
Posted By: Allis dave
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2017 at 6:54am
| If you can't find buyers or a use for your ear corn, you could always buy an old sheller too and have some real fun. |
Posted By: victoryallis
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2017 at 8:00am
|
I'm sure what I don't sell the R62 will take care of quick. ------------- 8030 and 8050MFWD, 7580, 3 6080's, 160, 7060, 175, heirloom D17, Deere 8760 |
Posted By: tomstractorsandtoys
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2017 at 8:29am
|
You might be able to find wildlife people and hunters who like to feed the deer. When we lived in Maryland I would sell 500-1000 bu of ear corn each fall to the local feed mill who sold it to deer hunters. They paid me above market and then almost doubled the price. I always liked picking corn especially with a two row mounted picker. Dad had a New Idea on a series II D-15 and I have a Deere 237 that we used on a 2510 or 3010. Still have the picker in the shed all oiled up but we now use a Deere 300 pull type. Tom |
Posted By: Ted J
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2017 at 1:46pm
 ------------- "Allis-Express" 19?? WC / 1941 C / 1952 CA / 1956 WD45 / 1957 WD45 / 1958 D-17 |
Posted By: darrel in ND
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2017 at 2:32pm
| It's all about location. I don't think that I could give away 10 ears of it where I live, but 50 to 60 miles away, I could probably sell the heck out of it. .Darrel |
Posted By: tadams(OH)
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2017 at 2:36pm
| The feed mills buy it here |
Posted By: littlemarv
Date Posted: 24 Feb 2017 at 5:02pm
|
I called the Co-op in town, they no longer buy ear corn at all. I was thinking about growing corn and maybe picking it, but the way the New Idea one and two row pickers are priced around here, I think I could pick up a Gleaner with a grain and a corn head for about the same money. Of course the Gleaner would need work, but for me, the fun is in the fixing.... ------------- The mechanic always wins. B91131, WC23065, WD89101, CA29479, B1, Early B10, HB212, 416H |
Posted By: HD6GTOM
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2017 at 8:00am
| Ryan wife has been doing farmers markets for over 20 years. I now get drug along on Monday afternoons. In all that time I have never seen ear corn at a market here in the corn belt. I would buy a few hogs and put it thru them. If you guys are planting deer plots there will be a day when you are sorry. We cant even plant a garden within 50 feet of the house because the darn things destroy it. DNR gave me 30 dear tags to share with everyone in the neighborhood. I could not give them away because the DNR gave all the neighbors at least 30 each. |
Posted By: desertjoe
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2017 at 8:13am
|
DNR gave me 30 dear tags to share with everyone in the neighborhood."" Dang,,,Tom,,,Ya.ll gots that many deer,,,??? I'm lucky to even draw ONE tag every few years,,,facts IS,,,I haven't drawn a Deer tag in 4 years,,,!!!! That right there is where you could make you some serious money,,,,you could "harvest" them deers,,,and set you up a road side stand and sell "organically Grown" " Corn Fed" Venison steaks and maybe even some Venison Jerky,,,them city people go crazy for thet stuff,,,,,,  |
Posted By: JayIN
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2017 at 8:37am
|
Deer is just long legged rats around here. Real pain in the arse. ------------- sometimes I walk out to my shop and look around and think "Who's the idiot that owns this place?" |
Posted By: john(MI)
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2017 at 11:49am
|
I used to feed deer ear corn, but I made a feeder out of some pvc pipe and buy shelled. I think it's less cost. They still have bags of ear corn for sale, and carrots, and beets, and apples and salt blocks! ------------- D14, D17, 5020, 612H, CASE 446 |
Posted By: VAfarmboy
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2017 at 3:10pm
I don't know where you would even sell a hog around here anymore. Back in the day everyone around here raised a few hogs fed them corn they grew on the farm and sold them to the meat packing plants in Smithfield but they don't buy them anymore. These days Smithfield and its Chinese owners only want their own hogs, fed their own rations, raised on their own factory farms. |
Posted By: HD6GTOM
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2017 at 4:04pm
| Hogs get sold privatly when they reach a weight of 200-225 lbs. They go to the local locker. As far as the deer, there are thousands of the dam things in this area. Everyone around me rents their ground to the out of state deer hunters. I tell everyone you are welcome to deer or turkey hunt, shotgun or bow season. I don't know of anyone that hasn't gotten their limit. Last fall son and granddaughter stepped out of his pickup just after sun rise and got their limit out of our garden that is less than 50 ft north of the house. These DNR people gotta open up the season, needs to be at least 90- 120 days in length. |
Posted By: ac fleet
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2017 at 7:20pm
|
We got the same deer infestation around here,---and the great white hunters can't seeeem to kill any of them!!!----cars do a better job than the hunters do!! Most hunters only want that certain buck so they can brag about it to all their drinkin buddies! Dnr WONT help us in any way to lessen the problem that they created to begin with! We are only 3 miles from a state habitat where they plant acres, and acres of feed/weed fields for that crap to get fat on AFTER they come destroy our gardens/orchards FIRST, then go run for safety and relaxation ! If you do pick some corn in the ear, you could put up an ad in your area and if it don't sell run it thru the combine!--lotta work to shovel it into the header, but more fun and doing the old way ,(kinda, sorta). We don't have any market around here for ear corn to actually sell for money, but you may find a market in your area! --- good luck!! thanks; ac fleet |
Posted By: JimIA
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2017 at 7:32pm
|
Why not get a picker, pick some ear corn, get an old sheller, shell the corn, haul it to town, also get an old manure spreader and haul the cobs with the old spreader. Sounds like 3 times the fun to me! We pick a few cribs of corn yet. We grind it and feed it to some cattle and sheep. Great feed. Jim ------------- An open eye is much more observant than an open mouth |
Posted By: dawntreader74
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2017 at 8:37pm
| jim' you can't beat it ground up with a little good old hay ground up with it' makes the best feed. right. |
Posted By: Ryan Renko
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2017 at 8:40pm
|
Posted By: JoeRepking
Date Posted: 25 Feb 2017 at 8:47pm
| Does anyone have a pull type picker for sale? |
Posted By: Mike Plotner
Date Posted: 26 Feb 2017 at 7:14am
Ear corn isn't near as good of hog feed as it is cattle feed. Hogs don't need all the fiber to keep their guts working like cattle do. I had some left over ear corn a few years ago and my cousin and I were feeding hogs out at the time so I figured we would just run it though the old Gehl MX120 and feed it out. Boy was that a mistake. Our rate of gain dropped like nothing else ------------- 2001 Gleaner R42, 1978 7060, 1977 7000, 1966 190 XT, 1966 D-17 Series IV and 1952 WD and more keep my farm running! |
Posted By: JimIA
Date Posted: 26 Feb 2017 at 11:52am
That is an awesome mixture. We just feed hay separately as we maintain that our animals are pasture raised and grass and grain finish. Jim ------------- An open eye is much more observant than an open mouth |
Posted By: JimIA
Date Posted: 26 Feb 2017 at 11:54am
Minneapolis Moline had the best known sheller, later ones were even painted red and sold as Whites. ------------- An open eye is much more observant than an open mouth |
Posted By: dpower
Date Posted: 26 Feb 2017 at 12:06pm
| We still pick most of our corn and shell it out with a 1210 Minnie. Dad made a lot of money doing custom corn shelling for guys in the 80s. Our last customer quit 8 years ago, his 90 year old land lord would only let him rent the land if he would pick all the ear corn, so that kept us a job for awhile. The cobs we use to sell to a guy that would make ammo brass cleaner out of it. Always wanted to get a Cook Sheller heard they did an amazing job and did it fast. |
Posted By: CTuckerNWIL
Date Posted: 26 Feb 2017 at 12:53pm
|
Ear corn is fine for hogs, IF you don't grind it. They will eat the corn off the cob. If you have a good wood stove and don't have a lot of time to cut wood, ear corn works great. Just don't burn it in a welded sheet metal stove without firebrick or a good heavy grate. It burns hot almost like coal. ------------- http://www.ae-ta.com" rel="nofollow - http://www.ae-ta.com Lena 1935 WC12xxx, Willie 1951 CA6xx Dad bought new, 1954WD45 PS, 1960 D17 NF |
Posted By: ac fleet
Date Posted: 26 Feb 2017 at 6:15pm
|
I have an old MM sheller, 1200 I think,--- could be repaired, been outside for a long time.----Also have a JD #18 picker and one for parts, a bit stuck, but I bought them that way and then got out of the chicken business so now these machines sit until a buyer comes along.---Also have a nice electric hammer mill (sitting inside) and a Case hammer mill, belt drive with several different screens. thanks; ac fleet |
Posted By: Ryan Renko
Date Posted: 26 Feb 2017 at 8:12pm
| I'm 51 years old now but remember riding in the very back of the wagon as my father operated the tractor picking. That was over 40 years ago and corn did not mature as early as it does now so it was almost winter. I would be all in my winter clothing and just keeping very aware not to get bopped in the face by a flying ear of corn!! Nowadays my father would be accused of endangering a child but I only wish I could go back. This time I want to drive the tractor though!!!!!Ryan |
Posted By: JimIA
Date Posted: 26 Feb 2017 at 9:14pm
I have seen a Cook sheller in action. I was amazed at the capacity of it. I put a video of it on youtube. Cant get the video to work on here. I will post a link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-7Gm_WjYco" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-7Gm_WjYco ------------- An open eye is much more observant than an open mouth |
Posted By: CrestonM
Date Posted: 27 Feb 2017 at 12:40pm
| That is one high capacity sheller! I think it would take a few more horses than what my B has to run it. Lol |
Posted By: Ted J
Date Posted: 02 Mar 2017 at 10:42am
|
Jim, read my tutorial on doing this..... http://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=135577&title=posting-to-make-links-appear-and-youtube-videos" rel="nofollow - Posting to make 'LINKS' appear and YouTube Videos [TUBE]c-7Gm_WjYco[/TUBE] ------------- "Allis-Express" 19?? WC / 1941 C / 1952 CA / 1956 WD45 / 1957 WD45 / 1958 D-17 |
Posted By: JoeO(CMO)
Date Posted: 02 Mar 2017 at 11:04am
|
Hmmm...sounds like a combine would do the trick, then use it for other crops too! ------------- |
Posted By: Stan IL&TN
Date Posted: 02 Mar 2017 at 1:26pm
I wonder if growing pop-corn is an option assuming the old pickers would be able to grab the smaller ears? I still have dad's one row John Deere picker sitting up on the hill in the brush where it has been for the last 50 or so years. I'm sure it just needs a little grease and it would be right as rain.  ------------- 1957 WD45 dad's first AC 1968 one-seventy 1956 F40 Ferguson |
Posted By: farmboy520
Date Posted: 02 Mar 2017 at 1:38pm
| My son and I grow a little half acre plot of popcorn and use a new idea picker to harvest it. I have the rolls on the new idea closed all the way and sometimes the ears still have some corn shell off but otherwise it does a great job |
Posted By: grinder220
Date Posted: 02 Mar 2017 at 3:34pm
|