Corn stalks

saracelica

saracelica

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saracelica
This is probably a dumb question but how do farmers get the corn off the stalks so that they can do the corn mazes? My husband says a machine but a machine is smart enough to pluck off the corn? Or is it just farm workers doing it?
 
I thought they just left the ears in place. A combine will level the field completely, not much of a maze there. I dunno, I've never been in a corn maze. I spent half my formative years tromping down corn rows looking for downed airplanes*, I'm not in a hurry to do it again.


* We flew R/C airplanes, and our flying field was surrounded by corn and bean fields. Radios being what they were in the 1970s, off-field landings/crashes were common and were usually followed by a few hours of hunting for the plane. It's why we used red or orange for most of our planes.
 
Does the corn harvester leave the stalks though? When I go through a corn maze I don't run into husks of corn.

city girl
 
Alexb2000 said:
Everybody I know uses a corn harvester:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_harvester

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...a=X&ei=R5ldUsHjCs_HkAfP34HQDg&ved=0CDUQ9QEwAg
Click to expand...

Everyone I know who grows corn just calls it a combine. They have different heads for different crops/grains. It chops off the stalks, separates out the corn kernels and dumps the rest out the back.

Not sure about the mazes, this is how a traditional combine with a corn head looks in operation..

 
Yeah, a combine doesn't leave much at all behind. Nothing standing anyway.
 
last corn maze I went to; Sever's 2013. corn still on the stalk.
 
When I pick sweet corn in my garden I do it by hand and just rip the ears off the stalks. Maybe this was a big sweet corn operation picked by hand?
 
saracelica said:
This is probably a dumb question but how do farmers get the corn off the stalks so that they can do the corn mazes? My husband says a machine but a machine is smart enough to pluck off the corn? Or is it just farm workers doing it?
Click to expand...

OK I need to read more closely.

Is this what you're talking about:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xjTTCKyKUE
 
I believe there was a guy who was making a fortune with some sort of GPS guided planter that would go in and plant the corn field and not have the plants growing in the paths for the maze/design.

They may have been cutting the maze after germination.


Pert the googles....

the corn maze is planted after wheat harvest during the last week of June or the first week of July (approximately three months after normal corn planting). The corn is planted later so it will be green during the fall months when people are more likely to want to enjoy a corn maze.

We plant a regular corn crop in 15 inch rows at about double the normal population (60,000) to reduce the temptation of those using the maze to cut through.

Step 2: Designing the Maze

The corn maze is cut out using Global Positioning (GPS). Coordinates of each corner of the corn maze must first be recorded. The maze is then computer drawn and incorporated into the GPS system. (see below)

Corn cutting
Step 3: Cutting Out the Corn Maze

Using a self-propelled mower, we cut the corn maze when the corn is about 12-24 inches tall. The growing point should be above ground preventing the corn from growing back after it is cut.

Equipped with a portable GPS unit, one person walks through the corn field as the operator of the mower follows.
Click to expand...

Corn Mazes America offers a number of services outside of physically creating a corn maze such as books, marketing, and more. If you are visiting our website though, chances are you are probably interested in what we can do to actually make a maze for you.

The Design
First, we start with the corn maze design. You have two options for your design. We have a database of what we call our predesigned mazes. Check this out and see what type of designs are available. We also list the size of the maze so you know about how many acres it will fit. We can usually stretch small mazes to make them larger, but it is usually hard to make a large design smaller without some modification.Sample corn maze picture

If you see a design that you like but it does not fit your field, we can send it back to our art room and try to modify it. Sometimes we will shrink some elements down, and sometimes we may even combine elements from other designs. But do not feel limited by what we have available. There is always to option to go custom.

All of our predesigned mazes were made from scratch at some point, so why not let us make a maze from scratch for you too. We can make a design to fit your field exactly. If you have a picture you want us to start with to make into a maze, we can do that. We have even taken a photo of a farm's barn and made that specific barn into a maze. Or, if you have just an idea such as "a Wild West theme," we will have our on staff artist draw up a unique image for you. No matter what you choose, we keep you involved in the entire process to make sure you get exactly what you want.

Cutting the Maze
Once you have a design, you need to get that design into the field. Again, we give you options.

If you are ambitious and up for cutting your own corn maze, this is a very cost effective option. We have a number of customers who do this with success. We will send you your maze design on graph paper, and you will be able to transfer the design into the field using instructions from us. This is more work for you, but it is the least expensive of any option on the market to get a maze design.

Want to make cutting a breeze? Let us do the cutting for you! Our staff can travel to your farm and cut the maze for you. We will cut the maze using a zero-turn lawn mower and a very precise GPS. Both the grid that you could use or the GPS that we use provides equal accuracy, so either way your design can look great from an airplane
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I know all the guys around here who have mazes plant them not cut them....
Most all the farmers I know have GPS on their planters and harvesters so the idea of plugging in a usb stick which tells the planter heads when to turn off and on is no big deal. The mazes around here are a mystery to all until the corn comes up. The farmers buy the program not knowing what the maze is. There is one just east of the Indiana/Ohio line on US 40 with Modern Family written up top and faces in it. The farmer said the TV company pays for the program and also for the area on his field that won't be producing corn this year. You can look at New Paris Ohio on google earth and see that there was a maze with some other design in whatever year the google earth pic was taken. This guy does mazes for fun and profit....


Frank
 
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Mazes notwithstanding, how IS corn harvested? I worked for a short time on a farm in Germany that harvested corn for cattle feed. They put it in a combine or whatever it was that ground the stalks and husks into some mass that was put into silage and fed to the cows at a later time. I'm sure food crop corn is harvested differently.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Mazes notwithstanding, how IS corn harvested? I worked for a short time on a farm in Germany that harvested corn for cattle feed. They put it in a combine or whatever it was that ground the stalks and husks into some mass that was put into silage and fed to the cows at a later time. I'm sure food crop corn is harvested differently.
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Im in the middle of corn harvest right now. Made this video 4 years ago. Maybe it will help answer your question. If not ask away.

https://vimeo.com/2359173
 
Sac Arrow said:
It does. So if corn on the cob is to be harvested, it's hand picked I take it.
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Sweet corn and field corn are different things. They can mechanically harvest sweet corn but generally that is only done for commercial operations like Green Giant. Much of what you would buy at a road side stand or farmers market is hand picked.
 

Farmer Charley's (just up the road from saracelica) has "Superheros in the corn" this year (flew over it the other day).
 
Sac Arrow said:
It does. So if corn on the cob is to be harvested, it's hand picked I take it.
Click to expand...

Yep that's right. Sweet corn is harvested by hand when the kernels are still nice and juicy. The corn I raise is called field corn. It's harvested later when the kernels are dry and hard. It's shelled off the cob by the combine and sold for cattle feed and ethanol around these parts.
 
Swampfox201 said:
Yep that's right. Sweet corn is harvested by hand when the kernels are still nice and juicy. The corn I raise is called field corn. It's harvested later when the kernels are dry and hard. It's shelled off the cob by the combine and sold for cattle feed and ethanol around these parts.
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I practically lived off field corn growing up. Throw enough butter on it, toss it in the microwave, it was edible.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Mazes notwithstanding, how IS corn harvested? I worked for a short time on a farm in Germany that harvested corn for cattle feed. They put it in a combine or whatever it was that ground the stalks and husks into some mass that was put into silage and fed to the cows at a later time. I'm sure food crop corn is harvested differently.
Click to expand...


Basically, corn is harvested using two methods. In the summer, after the corn has come up and put on ears (but is still green) it can be harvested with a forage harvester. This machine looks somewhat like a combine, but it cuts the whole stalk off just above the ground and grinds the whole works up - stalk, leaves, corn, cob, everything. This is often put in a silo where it "ensiles" - it more or less pickles - kind of like sauerkraut. It is then fed to the animals during the winter months. When a forage harvester is used, it just leaves very short stubble. This is what you saw in Germany

The other method is used in the fall, after the corn has matured and dried. The combine is driven thru the field and it pulls/cuts the ears from the stalk and leaves most of the stalk and leaves in the field. The combine removes the shuck from the ear and removes the corn from the cob. The shucks, cob and other trash are dischaged from the combine, and the corn kernals are retained in the hopper of the combine. This corn can be used as animal feed, human food, ethanol, etc.
 
jesse said:
I practically lived off field corn growing up. Throw enough butter on it, toss it in the microwave, it was edible.
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I used to ride in an old 715 IH combine, no airconditioning and windows wide open with dad, till I couldn't breathe anymore...
 
Oshkosh 2009 had a very good corn crop. My daughter and I went out on a bus somewhere and we got a few ears right off the stalk. Grilled in the husk over the hot coals. Mmmmmmmmm. Best corn I ever had in my life. Them cheeseheads know a thing or two about corn as well.
 
after it dries on the stalk, isn't it already maize? A-maze-ing ... :D

How do you stalk corn? You can't sneak up on it - too many ears!
 
Thanks people for the replies. Now I'm smarter. thanks Capn Thorpe for the Corn Maze up in Monroe maybe I'll have to take a flight up there. :)
 
Sara:There's another one south of you too, right next to I-75 in Sidney, OH.
 
Reading up on the effects that green corn had on the Confederate Army, specifically the Army of Tennessee, as they would grab it and eat it to fend off starvation as they marched, if they came across any fields with anything edible planted in them from Spring until Fall... Well, you can imagine.
 
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