I am kinda new at this I got a new idea 323 been picking last couple of days until all this rain started here in wv how do u guys measure the moisture in the corn exsplain a little to me if you dont care thanks
I take a few ears to local mill they will test mine for 3 bucs. Search through the post I had same question in Oct, I'm guessing it is drier then it should be for picking already mine was at 20.5 percent in mid Oct. I am in Central Pa. Ideal is 23-25 percent for picking to dry and it shells going through picker.
Another old-time method was to take 5 random ears from the field and toss them into the cattle tank. If 4 of the 5 float, you are ready to pick.
That method is probably not as accurate with modern hybrids that shell easier for combines.
We hand-shell a few ears and take them to the mill for testing. No charge in our area, very quick. We like to pick at 19-20%, but this year didn't give us much choice. The first went in at 23%, but dried out to 20% by the time we finished. By the time modern hybrids get to 15-16%, they shell pretty badly.
Another old-time method was to take 5 random ears from the field and toss them into the cattle tank. If 4 of the 5 float, you are ready to pick.
That method is probably not as accurate with modern hybrids that shell easier for combines.
We hand-shell a few ears and take them to the mill for testing. No charge in our area, very quick. We like to pick at 19-20%, but this year didn't give us much choice. The first went in at 23%, but dried out to 20% by the time we finished. By the time modern hybrids get to 15-16%, they shell pretty badly.
That is the way the corn that was being picked at the HCOP was, no matter the make, or model of the picker, the ground was covered with kernels after they had made a pass thru the field.
I don't know if there is a balance or not. We had very little shelling at 23%, but that is about the wettest we have ever cribbed. I am sure that parts of the field were wetter than that, but the calendar was pushing our decisions this year. By the time it hit 19%, the last inch or so of every ear was shelled clean. It is hardly worth picking at 15%, which is fine in most years--that way we are done picking long before we start combining. We combine most of our corn, so we don't want to try any specialty/OP strains. I don't know if any strains are even available that would shell less for ear picking. Besides, we don't really want to plant some corn just for ear picking and plant the rest just for combining. It would be too hard to predict at planting time how much of each we would need at harvest.
Our cows clean up the stalks and dropped corn pretty well, I guess, and we aren't going to get rid of the old girls anytime soon. I would be interested in hearing other folks' experience/solutions to this issue.
