Picking Corn - One Crib-Full, Please

10/19/2022 - With our plans for corn harvest somewhat revised, Dad and I hammer out a day of corn picking, and fill a single crib for winter wildlife corn sales.
This one doesn't need chapters. It's all good. ;0)
P.S. - There are a couple of continuity errors in this video, but they're pretty well hidden. If you think you've spotted one, throw it in the comments.

[@michaelreid5307]

Nice to see older equipment still being used & valued.

[@scottbarrett6754]

I love it! Dad doesn’t even need to turn around when he backs up to hook up to an empty wagon. Dead on!

[@ravenviewfarm]

LOL! Good eye! Dad has a hard time looking back over his left shoulder, but he can sense how close the picker is, and he creeps backward until he hears the wagon pin drop into the hitch. If the timing gets flubbed I just yell at the top of my lungs and we get it straightened out!

[@scottbarrett6754]

@@ravenviewfarm that’s awesome

[@douglasrusselljr7707]

Truly enjoy you sharing your days with us. Excellent camera work, and editing! Keep it up, and I look forward to seeing more!!

[@robertburt9071]

Nice seeing you and your dad hard at it I remember helping a farmer unload a load of cob corn I was about 15 when wagon filled over on the high side Back in the seventies I what a ride lol

[@markcarlson1562]

Growing up on my grandfathers farm has great memories. Picking season was my favorite and we picked corn exactly the same way. Thanku for the wonderful meal

[@davidkimmel4216]

Thank you for the memories

[@Budd56]

Thanks for sharing, I really appreciate it 👍👍✌️

[@ericwerner9605]

I enjoy hearing the sounds of that M working as we had an H when I was younger.

[@ravenviewfarm]

Agreed! It’s got some snort when it’s under load!

[@tomlines7181]

Dad had a 234 international corn picker on a 656 diesel narrow front end. Hauled in two stanhoist wagons pulled with a 766 IH. It’s great to see you picking corn. Brought back lots of memories. Thank you

[@ravenviewfarm]

That sounds like a pretty nice setup! I was going to make a joke about the 766 not even noticing a Stanhoist wagon behind it, but then I looked them up quick and realized they are considerably bigger than the old flair-box wagons I was picturing in my mind. Learned something new today! Days spent picking corn are some of my favorite on the farm. It doesn't get much better.

[@sammuelmeger7996]

I always enjoyed picking ear corn when I was younger

[@jamesbuck3818]

I grew up with farmalls A.C. & a 77 Oliver In N.E. It was SWEET to see and Hear familiar sounds.. .

[@pagrainfarmer]

That was fun. I used to harvest 60 acres of corn with a picker, up until about 20 years ago, when I started using my NI 2-row sheller. In 2016 I bought my JD 4400 and have combined all corn ever since. With my combine and dump truck, things are so much easier. I enjoyed your video very much. Keep'em coming, my friend.

[@ravenviewfarm]

Thanks for watching! I figure we have to capture this while we can, because odds are good that as Dad gets older and I’m on my own more, I’ll make the switch to combining as well. As long as I’m selling wildlife corn I’ll always do some amount of picking, but it won’t be like the years we picked and shelled 4,500 bushels with all the cribs full. Time marches on!

[@calebperkins4268]

happy to see your back to posting

[@PremierYachtFLL]

I always enjoyed picking corn

[@danielhurrle7008]

Nice that you have a camera man, Millennial farmer doesn't have one of them. Great video. Can't wait for more.

[@ravenviewfarm]

Hard to find a camera man who’ll work long hours for low pay, with lots of down time between shots. Rod didn’t seem to have anything better to do though, so I lucked out.

[@odisdenney690]

the corn on the ground is great for the wildlife, when they went from the corn picker to the combine you could see a decline in the wildlife on the farm.

[@hturbo1007]

Back in the day most farms were fenced in, so the farmers would run their hogs or cattle in the field to clean up the lost corn. Even around the where the elevator and corn cribs were.

[@ravenviewfarm]

You’re absolutely correct. When I was a kid, part of our farm’s perimeter fence was still in place, though it was in pretty bad shape by then. Our dairy herd hadn’t been put out on the fields since grandpa’s day. Our ultimate goal is to fence around the whole farm, and incorporate livestock once again. It’ll be awhile, but we’ll get there!

[@hturbo1007]

@@ravenviewfarm fences are very expensive. It'll cost you at least two dollars a foot even if you do the job yourself.

[@ravenviewfarm]

@@hturbo1007 No doubt, we’ll have to scrimp and save to get it done. We’ve got a plan though, starting with 9 acres of pasture that’s been neglected and overgrown. I’ve got a portion of that cleared and almost ready for fence. Then we’ll move on from there. A little at a time!

[@MorganOtt-ne1qj]

The JD 300 used 2 or 3 row JD heads on it to pick corn. NI didn't have a removable head, and was designed entirely for ear corn harvest. Not that 1 is better than the other, but they have different designs. Most of the loss is due to timing, dry enough to combine is usually too dry to pick with a NI picker. I've picked as late as March with a NI 325, and butt shelling wasn't a problem.

[@thomasforst7327]

Awesome awesome video

[@ravenviewfarm]

Thanks for watching!

[@nailbender7223]

Looks like that was a great day

[@ArmpitStudios]

Heh, the thumb trick. I first learned it watching Laurel & Hardy when I was in about 6th grade. 9:53 Looks like Rod was dancing to the beat of the conveyor.

[@ravenviewfarm]

Rod has the personality of a shy middle school boy. You can’t get a word out of him, and when it comes to dancing he just stands off to the side and sways awkwardly.

[@ArmpitStudios]

@@ravenviewfarm Bahaha!

[@JohnSmith-fs4dx]

11:11 - whoa nelly

[@ravenviewfarm]

LOL! It looks like a close one, right? I watched that a dozen times while I was editing and kept thinking, “Did we really cut it that close?!” After really squinting at it, I think the camera angle and the shadows make it look worse than it actually was.

[@brandonhoad9033]

What brand are your gravity boxes? Never seen them w crank handles, just the big wheels. Food for thought, i've been turning off planter for the two outside rows if I'm going to pick or chop a field. 1st 2 rows never amount to much anyway, y waste seed and fertilizer. Especially w today's $$

[@ravenviewfarm]

I believe the two we pick with are Nu-Bilt brand. We’ve got a couple of other flavors on the farm as well though. Good idea about shutting off a couple of rows. We definitely see that along field edges and headlands too.

[@GeigerFarm]

Snapping vs. stripping…Stripping like the NI does can at times have an obscene amount of butt shelling. Opening fields is critical 😉🙂. 2 kernels per sq ft equivalent to 1 bpa loss😥🤔

[@ravenviewfarm]

You know, I’ve never put the calculator to it like that, but it makes total sense!

[@user-lo6cf3df1x]

red power ....

[@MorganOtt-ne1qj]

Ehh... 😂

[@ravenviewfarm]

Now now! Don't start that! We have several manufacturers on this farm, and they all break down at some point, LOL!

[@MorganOtt-ne1qj]

@@ravenviewfarm None of them breakdown until you use it. Breakdowns are totally colorblind. Dealer support is what gets you going again.

[@danakrzysik2671]

What is your go to brand of seed corn for picking?

[@ravenviewfarm]

Honestly, it’s been whatever the local co-op has. We planted some Mycogen varieties I liked, but then they were absorbed by Corteva, so the last couple of years have been a Brevant variety. As I do this more and more, I’m looking more for characteristics than brand. I want a 94 day variety with good emergence in a no-till situation, with good late season dry down. And lately I’m looking more at flex ear varieties. With our wide rows at 29,500 plants per acre, plant spacing is pretty tight. I’d like to dial back to maybe 26,000 and still get a decent yield. I’m actually exploring some non GMO stuff from a local plant breeder for this coming year. Convincing Dad will be the hard part on that though.

[@dylanmyers1646]

Do you guys run a wide row or narrow row picker?

[@ravenviewfarm]

We’re on 38” wide rows. We talked about making the switch to 30” rows about a decade ago. I’m glad we didn’t though, since the wider rows work better with our interseeded cover crops.

[@dylanmyers1646]

I’m trying to get into picking but all I can find is wide rows… looking like it maybe what I end up with

[@thomasforst7327]

What kind of elevator

[@ravenviewfarm]

Hey Thomas! Our elevator is a Kewanee 500.