Corn growing on new build site

baby builder

Evening everyone!

Quick question - starting to build our new house at the start of July on a lovely greenfield site which has corn currently growing on it.

Now - what do we do?! Do we cut it, rotavate it, spray it, burn it? We will be keeping the top soil for the garden so haven't a clue which is the best plan...

Any advice Boardies?

sydthebeat

Is it being grown for harvest?

baby builder

sydthebeat wrote: »

Is it being grown for harvest?

It is!! It's a 10 acre field and we are using 1.5 acres of it as our site.

sydthebeat

baby builder wrote: »

It is!! It's a 10 acre field and we are using 1.5 acres of it as our site.

Well im sure whoever planted it will have a big say on what you can do to it

baby builder

Sorry - should have explained properly! We own the field, part of the farm is rented out - the man renting knew we would probably be building this year but planted the whole field (and 9 other fields!!) anyway. He has no problem with us clearing the area but is on holidays so can't do it himself. I'm just wondering what the best option is so as our garden won't have corn growing in it randomly!!!

Sorry for the confusion!

Bonzo Delaney

baby builder wrote: »

Sorry - should have explained properly! We own the field, part of the farm is rented out - the man renting knew we would probably be building this year but planted the whole field (and 9 other fields!!) anyway. He has no problem with us clearing the area but is on holidays so can't do it himself. I'm just wondering what the best option is so as our garden won't have corn growing in it randomly!!!

Sorry for the confusion!

I'd imagine the farming forum would have a few people with the best solution for your problem would you not wait till harvest time can't imagine its too far anyway Or just clear the area for the house foot print and driveways/ work areas Then harvest the rest in August

baby builder

The plan is to clear the driveway area, house footprint, gshp collector area, percolation area and more behind for top soil storage etc. harvesting won't be happening until mid-September and hence we would lose out on being in our new home for Christmas.

I don't know if I can post the same query in a different forum so if it's more suitable in farming/forestry - would mods be able to move it!!!

Probably just as easy to start a new thread there.

BryanF

Perhaps you'll get an answer here.

arthur daly

Spray it off that's what the farmers do before harvesting.it will suck it down and kill the roots then put in a jcb and clear it

Sam Kade

I presume it's winter grain if it's barley it will be ready for harvesting in July.

Mad4simmental

+1 spray with round up and plough on.

rangler1

baby builder wrote: »

The plan is to clear the driveway area, house footprint, gshp collector area, percolation area and more behind for top soil storage etc. harvesting won't be happening until mid-September and hence we would lose out on being in our new home for Christmas.

I don't know if I can post the same query in a different forum so if it's more suitable in farming/forestry - would mods be able to move it!!!

If the crop is up, mark out the site and spray with roundup.....problem solved, it definitely won't grow again, it works in about 5 days

sydthebeat

You also don't need to be clearing the percolation area and gshp loop area until further into your build, towards the end. ... maybe that could be used as a bartering point if there's any issues

foxy farmer

Could be cut as silage. Won't be much though 2-3 trailers at most. If it's cut be fore the grain goes hard any silage harvester can handle it. If it goes hard a kernal processer has to be fitted to the harvester to crack the corn so cattle can digest it. Shame to waste it. Makes great feeding. Someone local might be interested. Have a chat with the lad who owns the crop.

BryanF

Mad4simmental wrote: »

+1 spray with round up and plough on.

Won't you be scrapping off the top soil for spreading in the garden when you finished? Would roundup be over kill, why not just cut what's there, and dig out what's required

BryanF

BryanF wrote: »

Won't you be scrapping off the top soil for spreading in the garden when you finished? Would roundup be over kill, why not just cut what's there, and dig out what's required

My understanding of roundup is that it only kills living growth, seeds and future growth is unaffected.

blue5000

foxy farmer wrote: »

Could be cut as silage. Won't be much though 2-3 trailers at most. If it's cut be fore the grain goes hard any silage harvester can handle it. If it goes hard a kernal processer has to be fitted to the harvester to crack the corn so cattle can digest it. Shame to waste it. Makes great feeding. Someone local might be interested. Have a chat with the lad who owns the crop.

+1
If it's mowed off and taken away as silage it will leave a nice clean bare stubble for you to mark out roads/lines etc. If it's just sprayed with roundup you will still have a 2 foot high mess to deal with. You'd need to find out from the lad who grew it is there stones in or was it rolled before mowing it.

lefthooker

OP,

You're lucky, that's a very understanding farmer if he's happy to spray off 1.5 acres. Spraying or mowing are your best options.

Just a few questions,
Why didn't you fence off your site or did you ask the farmer not to sow the area where you intended to build? Not to specify before the crop is sown is a mistake and "probably building this year" is a bit vague without specifying a time.
When was the crop sown? It'll give an indication when it is to be harvested.
Finally who rented out the land, was it yourself or another family member? And did the farmer rent/pay for the 10 acres or just 8.5?

I rent land for corn, the way you've described it, if you came to me now and said I want 1.5 acres to build a house in a months time I'd tell you to suck it up till its harvested.

frazzledhome

Mow, bale and remove enough area to get footings and drive done. Allow rest to ripen and when harvested continue with landscaping.

baby builder

The farmer rents 110 acres of the farm for winter wheat (corn). He was told that we would be building this year if we got the mortgage - he went ahead and planted the corn even though the area was marked out last year and its an easy spot to see. He obviously won't be charged for the 1.5 acres rent. However, the situation remains that it needs to be cleared and he has said no problem, whatever we need to do (but he's lot doing it himself as he's away on holidays).

Hope that clarifies!! Looks like roundup or mowing are the best option. Would mowing and then using a jcb not remove the topsoil that we need for the garden? I suppose we can buy more topsoil for the garden.

Thanks so much for all the replies so far, boardsies are incredible and I really appreciate the time taken to read and reply!

blinding

Be careful not to Kill any of the Farmers corn if your spraying.

blue5000

baby builder wrote: »

The farmer rents 110 acres of the farm for winter wheat (corn). He was told that we would be building this year if we got the mortgage - he went ahead and planted the corn even though the area was marked out last year and its an easy spot to see. He obviously won't be charged for the 1.5 acres rent. However, the situation remains that it needs to be cleared and he has said no problem, whatever we need to do (but he's lot doing it himself as he's away on holidays).

Hope that clarifies!! Looks like roundup or mowing are the best option. Would mowing and then using a jcb not remove the topsoil that we need for the garden? I suppose we can buy more topsoil for the garden.

Thanks so much for all the replies so far, boardsies are incredible and I really appreciate the time taken to read and reply!

Usually it's left in a heap on site out of the way while the build goes on. Then use it when you are doing the landscaping/garden after all the services etc are done. Don't let your builder take it away.

frazzledhome

baby builder wrote: »

The farmer rents 110 acres of the farm for winter wheat (corn). He was told that we would be building this year if we got the mortgage - he went ahead and planted the corn even though the area was marked out last year and its an easy spot to see. He obviously won't be charged for the 1.5 acres rent. However, the situation remains that it needs to be cleared and he has said no problem, whatever we need to do (but he's lot doing it himself as he's away on holidays).

Hope that clarifies!! Looks like roundup or mowing are the best option. Would mowing and then using a jcb not remove the topsoil that we need for the garden? I suppose we can buy more topsoil for the garden.

Thanks so much for all the replies so far, boardsies are incredible and I really appreciate the time taken to read and reply!

Stock pile soil and reuse when landscaping. Unless you've Diarmuid Gavin doing a Marilyn Monroe cleavage in your lawn you should have loads.

baby builder

My worry was that the flipping winter wheat would reseed itself if we just cut it rather than spraying and then the topsoil would be useless for the garden as I don't want to look out in random corn stalks!!

Do ye think just mowing it would negate that, so as the 2 inch corn stalks would just die off while in a pile of topsoil at the side of the site waiting to be reused in landscaping?

rangler1

baby builder wrote: »

My worry was that the flipping winter wheat would reseed itself if we just cut it rather than spraying and then the topsoil would be useless for the garden as I don't want to look out in random corn stalks!!

Do ye think just mowing it would negate that, so as the 2 inch corn stalks would just die off while in a pile of topsoil at the side of the site waiting to be reused in landscaping?

I'd advise you move the topsoil into a heap, because if the builders have to work in wet weather they'll turn your nice topsoil into muck if you leave it there.
yes, if you mow the crop the stalks will rot on the pile, the ones on the outside might grow, but you could spray the pile with roundup if there was too much greenery

lefthooker

Thanks for explaining the situation.
Proceed as advised now.

yellow50HX

Cut it for a few arable silage bales in the summer. Great feeding for cattle. It ll clear the site area for you.

baby builder

Thanks so much everyone! A local farmer (who was watching the Champions League in the right place at the right time!!) is going to cut and bale it.

Delighted it's not going to waste and that it's being dealt with. Appreciate all the help!