I see farmers in Hermiston topping their corn fields. It looks like they chop off the top 2 feet or so. Does this make corn ripen faster or increase the size of the ears or just decrease the amount of roughage going through the combine or something else?
The topping of plants is for seed corn production.
The tassels at the top of the corn plant (the male flower where pollen is produced) are removed to prevent self-pollination. The rows that are topped are female rows (harvestable seed), and the rows that are not topped are male rows (pollen donors). Later, the male rows may be cut once pollination is done.
This is the process of hybrid seed production. Hybrid seed results in much better plant vigor and yield. Hybrid corn seed was developed in the 1920s, and the 1930s was the decade when commercial hybrid seed and its adoption really took off.
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