Corn – For Making Corn Meal

Q: I live in Carroll Co.and was wondering is you know the names of some of the corn that is grown mostly for livestock and for grinding for corn meal.When I was a kid my grandfather grew corn that made some of the best corn meal.I sure would like to find a place where I could buy some of these seeds.

A: From Winston Eason at the Clayton county Extension office

“I think any variety of yellow corn (Trucker’s Favorite, Country Gentleman, etc) can be used to make corn meal, the white varieties can also be used . The ears should be left to mature/ dry on the plant before harvesting. Once field-dry and harvested further drying can done in some form of storage to reduce the moisture content before grinding.”

Here’s a source

From the Wade Hutchison in the Spalding Extension office:

“One mill that a constituent deals with says they request Pioneer 32H39”

From Liz P., who grinds meal for the Cherokee Extension farmer’s market:

“We are using a couple of varieties, one is an old heirloom variety, I think it’s related to Butcher’s Blood, since it has about 2% red corn.

“The corn has been in a friend’s family for many generations, very tall stalks (up to 12-13 feet), long, straight rows on each cob, uniform kernel size. The corn produces 3-4 ears per stalk, sometimes more. Not many problems growing it, last year we had no corn earworms, but that may have been a fluke, as there were none on the sweet corn either. Could have to do with planting time. We’ve grown this corn for about 6 years. It dries out quickly, but you can use it for fresh eating if you get it early. Very starchy, has a nutty flavor. We have also used it for tamales, boy is that good!

“You can also buy Bloody Butcher from Territorial Seed Supply, www.territorialseed.com . The other we use is Truckers Favorite of all things. It tends to be sweeter, but still does well. The ears are large, uniform and dry pretty well.

“Though I haven’t ordered from these folks, this is one of the most informative pages I’ve seen about older corn varieties (open-pollinated, non-hybrid). This gives great detail about the characteristics of each corn type listed.

“We have also bought corn for grinding from the Keller Grain Company in Castro Texas. The shipping costs are high, but the corn is very good for grinding. You can also order 50# bags from local Mexican stores. This would be the same as used for tortillas. “