With 5 acres, you had best decide what you are going to do with it. Do you have a market for it. Dry corn will store for a year, but you need appropriate storage. Sweet corn you need go directly from the field to market. Determine your market first and then plant what will best sell in your area.

I wouldn't be so eager to get rid of all of the alfalfa. See the old research paper below, in which 20-ft alternate strips of alfalfa and corn work together.

In my area there is an excellent local market for non-GMO corn for animal feed.

Here is a link that might be useful: U-WI Alfalfa and corn strip tillage

Agree with the above. Are you growing for your own/family use, for farmer's market sales, or for commercial production and shipping?

For personal or family use 5 acres of corn is unrealistic unless you have huge commercial dryers (good for a year), several large freezers where it would keep for 6 months, or are willing to invest in commercial canning equipment. If crops for your own use is the goal then in 5 acres you can grow several different crops all at the same time, not just one crop.

For commercial production and shipping 5 acres is too small. Given current corn prices it wouldn't come close to paying for itself even if you can find local harvesters, storage, and shipping.

So if just "growing something" on the land is the goal alfalfa hay, mowed and baled, is a great crop for local sales.

Dave

I basically just want to grow something relatively low maintenance as I will be gone for weeks at a time.

I know most corn is feed to livestock so I might look into that first but I'm new to Iowa and the few people I've spoken to about this laugh b/c they think 5 acres isn't worth the time.

Anyway, do cows/pigs eat both the cob and the corn or would the corn need to be separated?

Corn on the cob is ground up to make "sweet feed" which is fed to cattle. Cows have a digestive system capable of extracting some nutrients from the ground up cobs. Pigs, horses, and chickens need their corn shelled off of the cob to be useful.

There are very few food crops that will survive, much less thrive, without care for "weeks at a time". Corn sure wouldn't.

The alfalfa you already have is one that should do well, weather and weed growth permitting. Others, after the initial work, that would probably do okay would be tree crops such as fruit trees or vine/bush fruit like various berries or sunflowers grown for seed.

Perhaps a more realistic approach and one that will let you learn at the same time would be to try growing say 1/4 to 1/2 acre of corn for family and friends use and leave the rest in alfalfa. You should be able to find someone locally to mow and bale the alfalfa for local sales. You can then expand the corn planting as experience and available time allows if it proves to work well.

The old saying that "you should learn to swim before you jump in the deep end of the pool" would seem to apply. :)

Also keep in mind that fallow land, land left to grow naturally, isn't necessarily wasted land. It provides food and habitat for lots of wildlife, nutrients for the soil, and prevents erosion. Not to mention it can be good on the eyes.

Dave

So corn couldn't be left for weeks at a time? (would you mind explaining why)

My next idea was a few acres of pumpkins (I have some experience with those and I don't recall much maintenance if any.

thanks!

Look at Hopi blue corn. It is very drought tolerant and forgiving of neglect, and unique enough you should be able to find a niche market with a premium price.

I'm in NE Iowa and we have miles of corn fields most with no irrigation. I can see spaying pesticides once in a while but I don't think irrigation is a problem.

I'm not sure what else would need to be done except a late application of fertilizer.

Like others have said... I think it depends on what you want to do with your crop, or why.

If you want to just be growing something for the sake of growing, leave the alfalfa. It's a good crop, and pretty decent for the soil. I know a couple locals that "fallow" their fields with alfalfa, sometimes with clover mixed in- I guess animals like the mix, but I haven't asked.

Corn can be a serious depleater. 5 acres is too much for personal use, unless you got some of your own stock to feed, and too little for commercial use- depending on your commercial use. And you have to figure in how you will sow it, harvest, and store the stuff. That's a lot of land to tend unless you have some machinery to do it with. Or can hire workers to tend it.
A potential option if you really want to do corn, depending on how isolated your field is, and how close other fields are is to ask around and find out if you could use the field for seed stock corn. Like if your field is suitable to pretty much guarantee no cross-pollination, you could find a seed bank that would want to pay you to grow a bunch of seed corn for them. It's probably a far shot though.
And keep in mind you might need somewhere around 80 pounds of corn seed- an extremely rough estimate is around 2.5-3 acres per 40 pound bag according to some folks. And though alfalfa is a great nitrogen fixer, you would likely still need a serious payload of fertilizer for your field if you plant in corn. So you might need at least a few hundred bucks upfront to prep your field and seed it- vs just letting the alfalfa grow as is and paying at the end of season for mowing and bailing.

But all in all, since you only have 2 months to plan and decide.. I would suggest you don't try planting corn this year. Leave the alfalfa, have it mown and bailed when the field is ripe- bails can sit in the field, I've seen it often done that way.. and give yourself more time to find your market, figure out your crop, and potentially secure the equipment and storage needed. Then if you still really want to do corn, do it spring of 2016.

Commercial pumpkins might need a spraying schedule...and a strong back at harvest time...plus a secured market. Leave the corn for experienced growers.

Even popcorn requires a contract concerning the variety and growing , harvesting, and storing requirements.

I'm in NE Iowa and we have miles of corn fields most with no irrigation. I can see spaying pesticides once in a while but I don't think irrigation is a problem.
I'm not sure what else would need to be done except a late application of fertilizer.

Irrigation isn't the primary issue although the tilth and moisture content of the soil is vital. Germination (which requires specific planting times), weed control during the early stages of growth, the timed feedings required, harvesting, and pest control are the issues that require your time throughout the season.

If you have all the necessary equipment ($) and want to just till the field, spread some corn seed ($) over 5 acres and hope it grows, spray it with weed killers ($) and pesticides ($) now and then, and don't plan to feed it or don't plan to harvest a salvageable crop from it then that is fine. But if you really think that is all the Iowa growers do for their corn crops then I sure wouldn't mention that around any of them or you'll end up with a black eye. :) Those fields have had extensive prep work and the growers are out in those fields checking on and working on those crops almost every day until it is harvested.

But the choice is yours.

Dave

I agree with Dave on, "So if just "growing something" on the land is the goal alfalfa hay, mowed and baled, is a great crop for local sales."

However, if you are like me, no equipment to bale it, you may be SOL on that.

I have 3 acres of really thick, healthy, almost weed free fescue grass that I have offered, more than once, to a local dairyman for free. He cuts and bales a very weedy field of about 10 acres less than 50 yards away. Mine has easy access, nothing to damage his equipment, level land.

He says that it wouldn't be worth his time and equipment costs!

I even asked him to bale it and take it after I cut it with my bushog and he said no!

Maybe he just doesn't like me?

But anyway, you need to find out your options for harvesting whatever you grow. If you can't get it to the market, you can't sell it!

If you are up to it and have the time, a "pick your own" setup may work for sweet corn, and/or strawberries, blueberries, ETC.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I purchased a few agriculture text books that I hope to read soon.

That said, I'm not sure what I would do with 5 acres of corn or how long it would take me to harvest by hand (I'm guessing 3-4 days)?

And then assuming I get a good harvest I'm thinking of contacting a few food banks to see if they would want the corn? It would be more of a hobby for me.

Does anyone know about how long the window is to pick corn and how long it stays fresh?

Does anyone know about how long the window is to pick corn and how long it stays fresh?

Corn needs to field dry to 13-14% moisture unless you dry it more with drying equipment. If dry and protected from vermin, it will keep a good while. If you can't use or sell it the first year, you have over planted.

Why do you think a food bank would want ears of field corn? Even sweet corn has a very short window.

Have you considered offering local food banks access to the 5 acres for a community garden? That way the land gets used but they incur the costs, do all the work, and reap the benefits.

Dave