Ok, it'll be pickin' time soon and I have a couple of questions. First of all, what is the maximum moisture content of the corn that I can pick and bag up in poly feed sacks that spoilage isn't a concern? Also what is the minimum moisture content that shelling in the field shouldn't be a concern with my NI 324 picker? Thanks, David
The old method was to throw 5 ears into a water tank. If 4 floated, corn was ready to pick. We moisture test ours these days. We shoot for 19% moisture as the optimal balance between spoilage and shelling. We have started as high as mid-20s, and the shelling gets bad the closer you get to 15%. This assumes you have planted modern hybrids that are bred to shell easily for the combine. There are some traditional hybrids out there that don't shell as easily. This won't be a dry fall for us, but in a dry fall, moisture percentages drop quickly. However, we are in SW Iowa, so your results may vary in Kentucky. We use a 324/327 for those results, kept in a couple of squirrel cage cribs.
