Very cool to see a different kind of corn being grown. I’m in the SW Tx panhandle so seeing any dry land corn that tall is awesome. Thanks for sharing your experiences!
Not a commercial grower (I was a potato farmer) but I planted some different heirlooms to make cornmeal out of. I am in north Florida. The blue varieties did poorly but pencil cob yellow did well as did the Jimmy Red.
I used to dabble in a red and amber colored ornamental corn. Back in the 70's, a neighbor gave us some red Kentucky corn for whisky production. He didn't have the correct plates to plant it, but we did. We crossed it with hybrids from back then and shortened the daylength to about 92 days. I call my 2 types Colonel Red and Agent Orange. General consensus is the protein content from open pollinated seed can be 10% higher than many current hybrids. Breeding corn is very important to maintain plant quality of a variety. Specifically traited varieties are probably already out there. Finding them is the hard part. I'm not a plant breeder. Here are a few things I've learned: Indeterminant plants; gotta watch the population (18-24k?) (huge v. nubbins). Keeping seeds; it's common to lose favorable characteristics over time. Selling non-yellow corn; loads can be docked or rejected because they think there's something wrong and they don't like seeing red kernels mixed in their yellow corn. Selling a specifically traited product; you have to find or create the niche market. It seems to me if you want to compare the effect of bT corn on soil health, wouldn't using one hybrid with the trait, and a near duplicate hybrid without the trait be a better option? Limiting variables helps reduce the deviation. You would also need to examine the entomological profile too. I understand why you would investigate a corn with an insect resistant trait (bT) on soil health, but it makes no sense to investigate an herbicide resistant trait (RR) on soil health. There's a reason why corn is hybridized. As far as open pollinated versus hybridized corn, there is no comparison. I think people are just trying to save on seed costs. It's unlikely an open pollinated corn can yield 200 bu/A (130 bu/A, sure). That's where genetics comes in. On a different note. I'd like to know more about Arachnids. I'm thinking they have a bigger part in slug control and other pests than what is led on. This is why I don't use treated soybean seed. Although, I would like to apply a fungicide on my seed for pythium, I just don't like seeing so much insecticides used as a safeguard, rather than for an infestation. Also, pop-up fertilizer makes little sense to me. Why put a fertilizer next to a seed that can burn off roots when the seed already has the nutrients it needs? Is the Nitrogen used only for moisture attraction? Wouldn't a potassium based hydrophillic polymer do better? (it does) Sorry for the winded comment. I hope I'm not off target as to what you are trying to do. Good interesting video.
I really enjoyed the video ! I need to send you some of my corn I have been breeding . I sent a bunch of seed down to a good friend in TN. to grow . I hope he gets the same results I have got . Thanks for sharing and have a great day !
@@youngredangus6041 I use a Earthway planter that plants way too much or not enough . The germination rate seemed to be good . I wonder if the different seed sizes throw off the planter because i'm guessing your seed was all different sizes .
This year I tried "truckers favorite".. a very small sample that grew very similar to that jimmy red. Tall stalks, large ears, tended to fall over in high winds. It is white corn. Not very sweet. Mostly it set the ears head high but many were 6 or 7 feet up . I think it needs lots of N. I didn't use much at all. It's nonGMO. It has potential to be a good feed I would say.
Cool you are going the heirloom path and replanting your seed to get benefits of your microclimate landrace. .. I've experienced 9-12 inch spacing is best for the heirlooms and you'll get silage corn at the typical 6.5 inch spacing of GMO/Hybrids. Red corn has around 12% protein and blue (like Blue Hopi) has 14%, so I'd suggest ordering some Blue Hopi to mix with the Jimmy. Given the choice, deer eat heirloom stalks and ears over the gmo/hybrids -- so they know what is up -- and your cows will do better on the heirloom. ... Last year I planted Reid's Yellow Dent (9% protein vs 3-5% in typical hybrid/gmo) while this year I planted a landrace mix of all the heirloom blues, reds, and purples I could source from the US and the source of all corn: Mexico. Very interesting how some stalks are deep purple and fuzzy like a cat! A lot of variation. So the typical mineral uptake indicators don't display the same on leaves. Because of the wild mix I have, and a six week drought right during germination, I have a veritable landscape of heights. What ears I get I know will be early and hardy for next year.
Yup: This is why "commercial" Ag products are completely different than all the MYRIAD of plants we can eat and actually should and USED to eat. Those plants which in general TASTE better, have more vitamins than their commercial counterparts all have the same problems: irregular germination, growth pattern, size of fruit, flowering duration, fertilization, ripening time... Classic example is the Mulberry tree and its fruit. Or black walnut or Thimbleberry. By taste all of the above are FAR superior to what you can buy in stores or in a canned commercial product... but locals all know about them.
I've raised some open pollinated before , the deer would eat mine and not the neighbors , biggest problem I've had is it goes down after ripens, "lodges" Usually only averaged about 80bu/acre.
Really interesting video. Worms are such an issue with growing corn. For worms in vegetable gardens, Bacillus thuringensis can be sprayed, is very effective, considered harmless to people, and a part of organic gardening. I was wondering if BT can be used on corn
