SPRING
The work begins months before planting season, when our expert Seedsman begins consulting with our customers to determine which hybrid would suit them best, based on location and desired traits. Those seeds are then carefully planted, and nurtured throughout the spring and summer.
SUMMER
At the height of summer in the Midwest, hundreds of young people descend on the fields in a carefully choreographed mission. Timing is critical as the corn begins to produce “tassels”. The female “tassels” need to be removed quickly and completely, before pollination begins. At Kerkhoff LLC, we still do this by hand. By removing the female “tassels”, this allows the male to pollinate and create the desired hybrid in that field. After pollination, the male rows are removed.
FALL
Seed corn is picked earlier than commercial corn. The ears are carefully collected, gently husked and then hand-sorted to remove any unwanted scraps. After drying to the appropriate moisture level, the ears are finally shelled and taken to our conditioning plant for the final touches.
WINTER
Throughout the winter, our conditioning plant is busy cleaning, treating and bagging seed corn for our customers. Our customization allows us to fulfill our customers’ specific requirements in treatments, bagging sizes and types, shipping and cold-storage as needed.
From the fields to the bagging line, we collaborate with our customers to produce specific seed corn hybrids tailored uniquely to their needs.