Here is a little info for everyone, coming from a veteran farmer. lol I posted this in another thread to help out another grower.......Thought this may help out a few others as the time for harvest closes in.
Depending on where you live,...typically in the northeast region of the U.S. harvest will be late Sept. to early Oct......
There are some twists to when harvest comes.....weather, variety of corn that is planted (corn is labeled by days....you have 90 day corn, 105 day corn, 120 day corn, etc..etc..) farmers around here plant later day corn first then through-out planting change to shorter day corn, that way it is all ready at the same time. (hopefully that makes sense).
Corn stalks will eventually dry out and turn yellow/brown. Typically it takes quite a while before the corn is ready to harvest..Ears typically (depends on variety) drop and point downward. This helps it dry. (The husks shed rain water, dew, etc.) Most farmers who harvest and truck directly into a grain mill harvest when the corn is around 16% moisture give or take a couple %. Farmers who dry their own may pick at slightly higher moisture and dry it down.
A quick and easy test to see if corn is ready to be harvested is to shuck an ear of dry corn (that means take the husk off lol.) hold the corn in both hands leaving a couple inches between hands, and twist the corn back and forth. If the corn squeeks while twisting, it is dry enough to harvest typically.
Hope this helps some corn field growers out! Just a few tips and tricks of the trade.
~Outlaw~