What kind, and where to buy inexpencive field corn seed.

[PaBuckHunter]

I want to try planting field corn this year instead of soybeans. It is my opinion, RR is just too expensive for a food plot. I am looking at Reid`s yellow dent field corn seed. I plan to do a burn down before I plant, and hope the corn out grows the weeds. Thanks for any input you can offer.

 

[blondy]

IMO it’s a waste of time and money trying to grow corn without RR trestments, Bob

 

[Buckly]

Corn is expensive to grow, no matter what seed you use. Why plant something so expensive and give it less than a chance to grow. By the time you burn down with herbicide and add fertilizer does the seed cost really matter? I guess you could get lucky on the weeds but in my opinion the weeds will severely stunt the corn. Spend $400 on the plot and have a failure or spend $500 and have a great food plot.

 

[j-bird]

CORN WILL NOT OUT GROW WEEDS! I have a plot full of foxtail to prove it...and the corn produced very poorly because of the competition. I will NEVER plant non-RR corn again.

If you want cheap...the best I can find is Federal. RR is going to run your roughly $200 a bag and non-RR is going to run you roughly $130 a bag. That's 80,000 seed count and at a 32,000 population rate...that's 2.5 acres worth. I get my seed for free out of a farmers planter when he is done planting. The deal is, I empty the seed boxes (dirty job) but I can keep the seed.

Corn is a much greater challenge to grow over beans. It's simply more sensitive, requires more fertilizer and lots of things out there will damage/eat it well before you want.

https://www.ruralking.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=corn+seed

 

[MarkDarvin]

I want to try planting field corn this year instead of soybeans. It is my opinion, RR is just too expensive for a food plot. I am looking at Reid`s yellow dent field corn seed. I plan to do a burn down before I plant, and hope the corn out grows the weeds. Thanks for any input you can offer.

I just grow a blend that is so diverse that I can't remember if something is a weed or I planted it. Win win.

 

[swat1018]

Where are you located? NWTF and some state agencies provide wildlife seed in some locations, cheap.

 

[willy]

On a habitat forum someone once suggested buying the bags of corn being sold for feed for deer or livestock since the vast majority of corn grown today is Roundup ready. Plant some of the seeds indoors and spray with glyphosate after a couple weeks they've been out of the ground and see if they still survive. If so youre good to go, if not your out less than twenty for the bags of seed you bought.

 

[E_308]

Where are you located? NWTF and some state agencies provide wildlife seed in some locations, cheap.

+1 here, I am still running on a $7 bag of milo from last year. I want to say the last time they had corn it was like $35 a bag? As others have also said if you are looking for something economical to plant = corn would be in last place.

 

[Bowhunter]

If you do go with the less expensive corn than you should be spraying with a pre-emergent herbicide like Dual Magnum II or Brawl II.

Only problem is that the stuff ain’t cheap at around $200 so you’ll be spending almost as much as the RR corn.

I wouldn’t risk it and just do the RR corn simply because it’s a sure thing.

 

[willy]

Prowl H2O Herbicide
Me-Too-Lachlor II Herbicide - 2.5 Gallons (Replaces Dual II Magnum)
41% Gly Star® Plus Glyphosate

These herbicides I use for my soybeans are the same I use with corn I plant. I am fortunate that I get corn free from a farmer I know or I can what I need from a dealer that is one year old. I have never had issue with corn germination with the year old seed, sometimes two. For me there is no cost difference from soy to corn. I rotate corn, if I'm going to plant it anyways, after two years of beans. I do a soil test and amend every 4 years. IF one can get relatively cheap corn seed, use the above chemicals, have good soil and plant correctly, one will raise good corn and it will be as cheap as beans.

I rarely plant corn as I like soybeans for my plots and plan on planting beans in 3 of the plots I use year after year. The biggest negative of corn is that it takes some mechanical effort to get the residue broken down and ground ready for planting. Otherwise I just no till into beans with my planter.

I walk my plots to manually remove the gly resistant weeds that came up after the pres have lost there power. If one has the time and the plots arent run over with these type weeds then its a good way to go in my opinion.

 

[KSbowhunter]

I've been planting conventional corn for AG and there are a few post emerge herbicides that will take care of the grass. A Sulfonylurea herbicide called Resolve worked good last year and kept the corn grass free. Used a lb of atrazine an acre with it. Also another herbicide called Impact that is supposed to work good on grass. Atrazine will kill small grass if you can get it. Use Roundup with a residual like Dual for burn down and then plant corn and it should get off to a good start.

 

[KSbowhunter]

I'm planting Epley Hybrids seed corn they have alot of conventional numbers for 115 a bag

 

[PaBuckHunter]

Where are you located? NWTF and some state agencies provide wildlife seed in some locations, cheap.

Northeast Pa.

 

[MarkDarvin]

Cheapest corn out there is sorghum. I think I paid $40 for a 50lb bag and that'll do 3-5 acres depending on rate. Should finish up early enough to broadcast a second fall crop right into it.