Which direction to plant corn rows ?

LittleD · May 17, 2014

Which direction do most of you plant your corn rows?
North & South
East & West
and why?

caterpillar guy · May 17, 2014

normally the long way of the fields. Or we may plant crosswise to a slope for soil erosion. Depends on the severity of the slope.

Wemedeeres · May 17, 2014

In straight rows

dick1234 · May 17, 2014

not up or down the hills

jon f mn · May 17, 2014

The way that gives the longest rows, or so folks driving by
can't see how crooked I plant.

Anonymous-0 · May 17, 2014

In a circle, you don't have to turn around.

casecollectorsc · May 17, 2014

All the previous answers, but it has been proven that planting north and south gives a little better yield because of the extra sunlite the plant receives.

notjustair · May 17, 2014

It all depends on how well the planter is working and whether I
am by the blacktop! North and south if fields allow. I don't do
any corn myself but I end up putting in the neighbors. We've
never put in corn. I think granddaddy would stab me with a
pitchfork from the other side.

LA in WI · May 17, 2014

What...nobody has brought up the fact of putting a dead fish beside each kernel? I think it was Squanto who had the Pilgrims doing that.

What do you think all those farm ponds are for?
LA in WI

DeltaRed · May 17, 2014

In the direction the water will run.

ejr-IA. · May 17, 2014

Usably north south because of wind direction.Old timers said you cant cultivate leaning corn with a high wheel cultivator.

Fergienewbee · May 17, 2014

It depends on which plot has corn, but usually N-S. Had my best plot, ground may be better, last year in a plot planted E-W. May also have received sun most of the day.

Larry

RN · May 17, 2014

depends a lot on the land and various factors- some already covered. Plain flat land gets the North to South so the sun isn"t blocked for the follower plants after 8 inches high. But locally in central Wisconsin hills the contour and circled terrace mean direction really varied and S shaped rows common. slope of field, length to width of field, irrigation needs, possible spraying of field prevailing wind directions. East to west means that only at high noon are you NOT facing into sun half the time while planting, etc. N to S you can tilt wide hat brim toward sun side and have a side shield on glass"s-safety or sunglass - or tilt umbrella or have a shade on cab window depending on how you"re equipped. A south sloping hill side will get the east to west rows for erosion control and let ground warm up a bit even for all corn plants in spring.

merlynr · May 17, 2014

(quoted from post at 10:20:16 05/17/14) depends a lot on the land and various factors- some already covered. Plain flat land gets the North to South so the sun isn"t blocked for the follower plants after 8 inches high. But locally in central Wisconsin hills the contour and circled terrace mean direction really varied and S shaped rows common. slope of field, length to width of field, irrigation needs, possible spraying of field prevailing wind directions. East to west means that only at high noon are you NOT facing into sun half the time while planting, etc. N to S you can tilt wide hat brim toward sun side and have a side shield on glass"s-safety or sunglass - or tilt umbrella or have a shade on cab window depending on how you"re equipped. A south sloping hill side will get the east to west rows for erosion control and let ground warm up a bit even for all corn plants in spring.

My neighbor(rip) tried to tell me how they used to "check" the field so they could either plant or cultivate up and down and across. I had a hard time figuring out what he was talking about as I've never planted corn.

redforlife · May 17, 2014

Me personally, I like to plant crossways from the direction run off water will run on hill ground. Plant in the same direction the stream runs on bottom ground. And try to plant north to south if at all possible in other situations.

farmerwithmutt · May 17, 2014

Planting by wire they had wire with buttons to make the
planter trip at certain times it would look like a checker
board when done. this way you can cultivate both ways it
was done before sprays came in for weed control.
Side note this made a clicking sound and when the first
electric fencers came out the horses didnt like the sound
when planting seems they remembered that sound

merlynr · May 17, 2014

(quoted from post at 11:28:19 05/17/14) Planting by wire they had wire with buttons to make the
planter trip at certain times it would look like a checker
board when done. this way you can cultivate both ways it
was done before sprays came in for weed control.
Side note this made a clicking sound and when the first
electric fencers came out the horses didnt like the sound
when planting seems they remembered that sound

That makes sense for his explanation that I couldn't grasp completely. He had a lot of stories like getting stuck temporarily on rr tracks with a pull disc.

ss55 · May 17, 2014

On the contour whereever practical.

Which direction to plant corn rows ?

LittleD

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caterpillar guy

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Wemedeeres

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dick1234

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jon f mn

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Anonymous-0

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casecollectorsc

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notjustair

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LA in WI

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DeltaRed

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ejr-IA.

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Fergienewbee

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RN

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merlynr

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redforlife

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farmerwithmutt

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merlynr

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ss55

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