I farm in Minnesota. Raising corn could be _real_ different in Alabama, so.....
You don't want to pick 100 acres of corn with a 2 row pull behind picker. It will be a full time job, and I doubt you will be a full timer? I can do about 40 acres in 4-5 days in fall by myself, but I'm set up for it.
So, if you go big-time, you want a self propelled combine. This will give you wet corn tho, you need to dry it to 14.5% or less to store it. No cheating in a warm climate, you _need_ it dry. Up here it never dries to that on it's own, I don't know how it works in Alabama.
'Here' you can buy a 2 row picker for $300-800.
'parallel terraces' The point of a terrace is to follow the conture of the land, always be on the same level. Why are you worried about hills? There should be no hills with terraces. You follow along the crooked paths..... I don't understand.
Planting corn. Corn likes to all be planted at exactly the same depth, same distance apart in the row. A planter does this. A grain drill does _not_ do this. You can put corn in the ground with a grain drill, but you will not get a good corn yield from it. You need very accurate depth & spacing. Common row spacing is 30 inches. 40, 38, 36, 30, 22, 20, 15 are also possibilities, with 30 and 38 being most common.
ou really want your planter & picker or combine to 'match up' to each other. Most especially if you are farming terraces. A 4 row planter with a 2 or 4 row harvester. A 6 row planter with a 2, 3, or 6 row harvester. You don't want to have to straddle the 'guess row' with the harvester. For example, an 8 row planter and a 6 row combine - so often you would be going over the guess row.
If you are going to do 1-3 acres, well then do this any way you want. Just for fun. The drill works for that, etc. etc.
If you are going to plant 100 acres of corn, then you need to pay attention to what you are doing, fertilize, plant with a good planter, and so on. You will be talking real money on that amount of acres. You'll need to do it right, or lose your shirt.
Harvesting corn is always a problem. Getting it dried & stored can be a big $$$$$.
--->Paul
