AWESOME WAYS TO HARVEST A CORN FIELD

Corn is one of the most farmed and the most important Agricultural product anywhere in the world. I have been asked very often by some people this question ” how is corn harvested and which methods”, so I decided to write this post with the help of my experience I have and the research I made. Check here to buy good corn seeds to farm

Corn/corn field is harvested either by a hand with a Cutlass, with a sickle or with a Combine.

For full knowledge on all the process involved in the harvest of corn field, check below.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TYPES OF CORN

WHEN IS IT DUE FOR HARVEST

METHODS OF HARVESTING A CORN FIELD

WHEN IS IT DUE FOR HARVEST

WHERE IS IT STORED

WHAT TO DO WITH CORN STALK AFTER HARVEST.

TYPES OF CORN

There are four types of corn, each of them is unique in its own way. the list are below.

FLINT CORN / INDIAN CORN

This is a type of corn that is has many colors in it, it is grown mostly in South America and central America.

This type of corn is used in the North America mostly for decoration purpose. It has a hard outer shell.

DENT CORN / FIELD CORN

This is the type of corn that is farmed mainly in the United States, it is mainly used for the manufacture of animal feed, it is also used to in some food supplements for human consumption.

POP-CORN

Pop corn is one of the most popular type of corn in the whole world.

infact, everybody loves it and enjoy taking it, most especially either in a Cinema hall while watching movies, show, festival or any sort of entertainment, people take pop corn as a snack.

It has its own shape, moisture content and starch level.

It’s outer layer is hard and inside it, the starchy center is very soft which when heated makes it to pop and display it’s whitish starchy center.

Although other types of corn will burst open when heated, but pop corn is unique because it burst open in entirety when heated!.

SWEET CORN

Sweet corn is a bit different from the other types of corn mentioned above. Unlike other corns, this corn is not left to dry before it can be consumed, it is eaten immediately after harvest ( fresh ). It is very rich in sugar, unlike the others. In my country, it is used to prepare many kind of delicious foods, it is normally canned and sold as fresh as it is when harvested.

METHODS OF HARVESTING A CORN FIELD

From my experience in my farm and research, I found out three ways of harvesting a corn field, they are:

COMBINE HARVESTER

This is a large tractor (Machine) that harvests all manner of farm products, including corn.

Once the corn is ready or matured to be harvested, the farmer prepare his combine harvester for the harvesting job.

Combines are large tractors that make harvesting large fields of crops very easy and very smooth and fast.

This machine is called combine because it does all the work in harvesting on a large part, very fast and also does half of the processing, by removing the corn stalk and bringing out the main corn.

Before the invention of the combine, people normally used hands to harvest the corns and in that reason, large number of people were needed to harvest corn fields, especially large ones, which normally takes time and lots of work. Now ,only one person ( operator) is required, making the combine one of the most cost-reducing and time saving inventions in the history of man and agriculture.

HANDS

The use of hands is the most ancient method of harvesting crops. This method is beyond the modern history of man, this started even at the time of Stone age when man was very primitive creature. the hands were used to plough/ harvest crops.

This method is still used by mainly farmers on small area of land. although it is very slow and requires a lot of work and good number of population to harvest farm products especially corn.

In my farm, this is the method I mainly use because my corn farm is very small and I see no need for other harvesting materials, hence I could just do it with my hands.

SICKLE

With the help of this tool, large number of crops could be harvested, unlike with only the hand than is slow and time wasting.

Although Sickle is faster than the hand in harvesting, but much slower and inappropriate when it come to harvesting larger fields of crop (corns).

WHEN IS CORN DUE FOR HARVEST

One Particular question many people ask, especially the aspiring agriculturists ask is ” when is corn due for a harvest?, how long does it take to mature? and how do you know if any one of them is matured for harvest?.”

I personally feel like it is inappropriate and incomplete to finish this write-up without answering thes questions.

on the average, a corn does take around two to three months, from the day the seed was planted, till when it will be matured.

Although it depends on the specie of the corn, but a good specie should take two months or three months at this stage, their silk will turn brown and began to dry so much, at this stage, you will know that your corn is matured enough and very ready to be harvested.

You can now pick them.

WHERE IS CORN STORED

There are many ways corn could be stored, but it depends on what you want to store the corn for. If you are storing it for edible purpose, here are ways you could do it.

Remove the husk of the corns,put them in a plastic can or tin or even a nylon and put it into a refrigerator, this is just fine and great if you are not storing it for a long period of time.

Another method is, remove the husk, peel / bring the corn seed out, put them in a container and cover it,make sure the corn is dry and store the container in a dry place Note – don’t store a wet corn in a container, or they will be useless in a matter of days.

If you are storing it for a long time, may be you are planning to replant the seeds next time ( farming season) or you are planning to sell it to people or in the market, I have a method for you.

Store around the fire place. This method is mostly used by me, my grandmother.

She will bring some corn that she want to plant the next farming season, tie them together without husking, place them like 3 feet on top our fire place, leave them there till all year long, by the next farming season, the corn are planted and they grow awesomely well.

Another method for long term storage is to bring the corn you want to store, remove the husk and place them under hot sun to dry. do this every day for like 1 week and store them in a bag.

WHAT TO DO WITH CORN STALK AFTER HARVEST

Some people do think the corn stalk are useless and worthless after the corn is harvested.

No! this is an absolute No! the corn stalk is very useful for farmers, both for crops and for animals.

The stalk is used as a very high source of manure to the crops, it does well in cassava farm and vegetable farm. As for animals, it is a good food for the Goat, Rabbit,Grass-cutter and sheep.

I hope this article helps you, make sure to subscribe to my news letter.