Home Grown

[danfrmmaine]

Hah, got your attention. Corn that is. How many acres of corn do I need to grow to run a corn boiler? I guess I'm looking for ideas about planting, harvesting and shucking corn for a single household. What type corn? etc. Drying? Storing?
Thanks
Dan in Maine

 

[DiggerJim]

Average yield per acre last year for corn crops was about 150 bushels/acre. Average weight per bushel is about 56 lbs/bushel (shelled corn). About 36 bushels per ton. It's about 6,800 BTU/lb for corn (vs. 8,200 for pellets) with an average efficiency of 75% (vs. 80% for pellets). So you'll need roughly 20% more corn than pellets - if you burn the average 3 tons of pellets, figure 3 1/2 - 4 tons of corn which is about an acre & quarter. (Hand grenade math here. Approximations only.)

(Source: Penn State School of Agriculture)