You are growing one of the best varieties available today. I grow 15 rows, 50 ft long of this and it's now worthwhile to remove these side shoots. If I were you remove the side shoots. Just snap them off.

Technically, it's "ok" to remove these suckers which are called "tillers". They're a sign of a healthy plant and may result in corn if the main stem is damaged by say... a tornado or animal, etc.

There is no definitive evidence on whether they result in higher yield if removed. Just as there is no difference in tomato yield if you remove the suckers of the plant.

It likely simply serves to make the human feel better because they feel like they're trying to do something or trying to force nature to appear uniform. But nature knows what it's doing. *wink*