Last week I plowed under what was left of one of the best corn patches we’ve ever grown.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to harvest much of it. The wild hogs that roam this area ate most of it to the ground.
Wild hogs are a relatively new issue in our area. I’d guess there were several dozen in the group that destroyed the corn patch that is just outside our living room window. There’s no telling how many roam the Flint River swamp just to the east of us.
Those who study wild hogs say that on average a single female pig can lead to 25 more pigs in just one year. Sows mature quickly and have multiple litters (often eight to 10, or even more pigs) that, in turn, quickly grow up to start making their own litters.
But enough about the pigs.
Harvesting ear corn with a tractor-mounted picker is one of my all-time favorite chores and one we had – and still have – high hopes of demonstrating at Inman Farm Heritage Days.
One of my first paying jobs, other that picking vegetables and mowing lawns, was helping my Harp kinfolks pick corn.
Most of the time, Pluett Stanley (I hope I got his name right.) drove a two-cylinder John Deere with a mounted two-row picker. The picker harvested whole ears, and a conveyor dumped the harvested ears into a four-wheel wagon pulled by the same tractor.
My job was to drive a Ford 3000 and be ready with an empty wagon when the one behind the picker got full.
Corey and Jameson Milford on our 230 Massey Ferguson using a one-row corn picker during the 2025 Inman Farm Heritage Days.
When the wagon was full, I’d jump off the tractor and unhook the full wagon from Pluett’s tractor and connect it to the empty wagon so he could be quickly on his way. Then I’d hook to the full one and pull it to the nearest field road, where it would be hooked to a truck that took the load to the barn or old house or shed, where it would be stored until needed to feed cows.
I loved the smell of the corn and the sounds of the spinning chains and sprockets that powered the picking process.
In later years, we borrowed Bub Carden’s Ford 3000 and one-row picker to harvest our corn.
Over the past several years, we acquired a John Deere picker from Terry Long and a Ford tractor and mounted Ford picker from Glenn McWaters. We plant our corn close to the Inman Farm Heritage Days show grounds, so we can share the picking experience with our visitors.
Wish us luck outsmarting the hogs.
Watch the short video of the one-row corn picker at work below:
Corey & Jameson Milford demonstrating a one-row corn picker during the 2025 Inman Farm Heritage Days