Detasseling corn is a routine practice in commercial agriculture that involves removing the male reproductive part of the corn plant, known as the tassel. The tassel grows at the top of the stalk and contains the pollen necessary for fertilization. Detasseling is a form of controlled pollination carried out in fields designated for producing hybrid seed corn. This process ensures the genetic purity and superior characteristics of the seed corn sold to farmers.
Why Detasseling is Necessary
Detasseling is performed to manage the plant’s genetics and is fundamental to the creation of hybrid seed corn. Corn is naturally a monoecious plant, meaning it has separate male (tassel) and female (silk on the ear) flowers on the same stalk, allowing for self-pollination. To produce a hybrid, seed companies must prevent the female parent plant from pollinating itself, which would result in non-hybrid seed.
The process involves planting two distinct parent varieties: a “female” row and a “male” row, often in a pattern like four female rows for every one male row. The tassel is removed exclusively from the female rows, making those plants dependent on pollen from the adjacent male rows. This cross-pollination combines the desirable traits of both parent lines, leading to hybrid seeds that offer advantages like higher yield, drought tolerance, or disease resistance. Only the grain harvested from the detasseled female rows is collected and sold as the final hybrid seed corn.
Methods of Tassel Removal
The physical removal of the tassel is carried out using a combination of mechanized and manual techniques, aiming for nearly complete removal. Proper timing is important; the tassel must be removed after it has fully emerged but before it begins to shed pollen. The initial step involves mechanical detasseling, where specialized high-clearance machines equipped with cutters or pullers drive through the rows.
These machines use rollers to grip and remove the tassel or use cutters to trim the top portion of the plant. While efficient, machines cannot account for variations in plant height, often removing only 60 to 90 percent of the tassels. This is insufficient for the high purity standards of seed corn production, which require over 99.5 percent of tassels to be removed.
Manual detasseling is then required to remove the tassels missed by the machinery. Workers walk or ride through the fields, grasping the base of the remaining tassel and pulling it free from the stalk. This manual step ensures the necessary uniformity and purity of the final hybrid seed. The work must be done carefully to avoid damaging the upper leaves or the young ear shoot, as improper removal can negatively impact the plant’s development.
Detasseling as a Summer Job
Detasseling has long been a traditional summer job in agricultural regions, often employing teenagers and students. The work typically occurs during the middle of summer, generally beginning around the second or third week of July and lasting two weeks to a month, depending on the growing season.
The job is physically demanding, requiring workers to spend long hours walking through tall corn fields in hot, humid weather. Detasselers face challenges like blistering, sunburn, and “corn rash” caused by friction from the plant leaves. Workers are often transported to the fields in crews, following a crew leader and assigned specific rows to clear of tassels.
Because the work window is seasonal and brief, a large workforce is required to complete the task quickly and accurately. While the opportunity provides valuable early work experience, the physically strenuous nature and exposure to dust and pollen are significant aspects of the environment. Some operations offer pay rates above minimum wage, often including bonuses for perfect attendance or high productivity.