Hey corn farmers

grandpa Love · Oct 25, 2017

This field was harvested a while back, passed it today and was amazed at how much corn had come up. How much waste is ok? Looks like he didn't pick much? Seen other fields with only a few plants coming back.

Richard G. · Oct 25, 2017

Must have harvested with one of those old Gleaner combines.
We always called them seeders around here. Was sure glad to see my son's go down the road.
Richard

oliver fan · Oct 25, 2017

Around here the soybean fields are growing better now than they did last spring.

RBnWA · Oct 25, 2017

Galvinized seeders is what they are. RB

deeretails · Oct 25, 2017

I thought they were silver sided seeders!

25twin · Oct 25, 2017

A lot of assuming going on here guys. I see as much of that behind green ones as any. All combines can be allowed to do a poor job. Yes, that is a poor job.

55 50 Ron · Oct 25, 2017

Are you sure that's new corn plants from seed out the back of the combine?? I find that hard to believe. No combine is that bad. A more likely scenario is that it was purposely planted with a planter to get some late corn growing for silage.

Where is this? If it's in dairy country it certainly could be for silage.

Aaron SEIA · Oct 25, 2017

2 kernels per square foot is 1 bushel an acre. Nothing leaves as much on the ground as a poorly set machine. Many run by people with green undies around here. That looks way too tall to be regrowth corn. I'm going to guess some kind of cover crop.
AaronSEIA

gtractorfan · Oct 25, 2017

I took this not so good picture today, saw fields that were "planted" thicker than this- evenly spread all over.

grandpa Love · Oct 25, 2017

Central AL. No dairy farms around. Corn was planted in rows. This corn is not. Definitely is corn. Some had tassels.

centash · Oct 25, 2017

Yes......no such thing as a poor combine......just poor operators. Ben

coonie minnie · Oct 25, 2017

Consider this: typically, we plant between 30,000 to 36,000 seeds per acre. A bushel probably has 80,000 seeds, perhaps more- closeer to 90 or 100K. One bushel to the acre loss out the back of a combine, or off the head of a combine is very common. So average loss could be double the seed we usually plant, easily.

Keep in mind one bushel to the acre with 200 bu corn is one half of one percent field loss.

Then given warm, wet conditions of AL in the fall, it could be easy for it to grow.

If the loos seems bad, keep in the mind the loss from a corn picker could be several bu to the acre. Things have gotten better.

Destroked 450 · Oct 25, 2017

5% loss out the back is the standard for todays combines, 200 bushels per acre means 10 bushel on the ground.
For 30" rows we get nearly 3 acres per bushel when planting and the combine leaves 30 bushels on that same 3 acres, that's 300% more wasted than was planted.
So yes the field looks like corns been broadcast sowed because it has.

Brown Swiss · Oct 25, 2017

I have to wonder if it ain't some sorghum or sudan for a cover crop? They would have leaves like a corn plant and lot of people going to cover crops.

grandpa Love · Oct 25, 2017

Thanks for the replies. Interesting to learn about the amount of waste vs the amount planted. Field was well covered.

fixerupper · Oct 25, 2017

Usually grain loss out of a combine is streaked. I can’t tell by the picture if it’s streaked or not. Like a couple of others said it could have been planted for forage .

There is a corn field about ten miles south of me that was harvested a month ago with a newer Deere and the grain loss regrowth in that field is emabarassing. There is a heavy streak of volunteer corn every twelve rows meaning corn was going over the cleaning shoe.

Small ears shelling in the head can put a lot of corn on the ground before it reaches the combine. This field I was talking about had some of that too.

Cmore · Oct 25, 2017

Do the math!!!!
Only 5 bushels per acre loss is approximately 400,000 kernels.
If only 20% of those kernels sprouted that?s 80,000 plants or more than twice what was planted originally
Makes sense to me

formenwhogrow · Oct 25, 2017

Behind every Gleaner that does a poor job harvesting a crop is an operator who doesn't know how to set his Gleaner up properly.

WGM · Oct 26, 2017

A properly adjusted combine will not have any loss out the back.

caterpillar guy · Oct 26, 2017

They will all do a good job if set properly and not run faster than it can process the material. I think I had about 20 stalks of volunteer corn in my field that was beans after corn on 25 acres.
A combine run to fast will put as much over as one set poorly.

4520BW · Oct 26, 2017

I have some bean fields that look like that but its from the beans so dry there popping out at the head.

Destroked 450 · Oct 26, 2017

I'm sure that a combine can be set to better minimize loss and running at the proper speed will also help. For me I need very kernel I can get in the bin, not on the ground. But in todays world it's all about production and for big producers the loss is acceptable if it allows them to cover more acres, slowing down 1/2 mph to reduce loss could cost them more in labor and machine run time than what they would have made from the lost product.
Then if the yield numbers don't add up they just turn it in on their crop insurance and still get paid.

Destroked 450 · Oct 26, 2017

I'm sure that a combine can be set to better minimize loss and running at the proper speed will also help. For me I need very kernel I can get in the bin, not on the ground. But in todays world it's all about production and for big producers the loss is acceptable if it allows them to cover more acres, slowing down 1/2 mph to reduce loss could cost them more in labor and machine run time than what they would have made from the lost product.
Then if the yield numbers don't add up they just turn it in on their crop insurance and still get paid.

WGM · Oct 26, 2017

I agree. It's a cover crop of some sorts. No combine would that much unless the operator is totally clueless.

Leroy · Oct 27, 2017

Grandpa, I have never been down that way so do not know what the seasons are. Was it corn harvested before this come up? If so when was it harvested? By my calculations to be going into tassel now it would have been planted around end of June, first of July so would that be harvest time for corn? Or was it a bare field untill late or some other crop in there? Time frame to be combine loss does not seem right to me. And what crops are raised in your area? And I am not sure where you are located even. But it does not seem right to be lost corn from a combine unless it was 1996 crop not harvested untill middle of this year.

grandpa Love · Oct 27, 2017

Hey Leroy, it was planted in corn this spring and harvested about 6-7weeks ago. We have had a warm fall so far. Enough rain too. I'm thinking corn will tassel that soon. We have crazy weather sometimes. Mowed lawn on Christmas Eve in shorts before and next year it was below freezing. Saw another field in SE TN today that was as bad. Most fields around here only have a few corn plants coming up. We live in Central Alabama.

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