# Cornstalks



## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

What is the going price for cornstalks this year?? If I need a LOT for this school dance I'm planning, is it rude to ask a farmer for a bulk discount (I LOVE farmers and know this economy is ruining a lot of them...I hate to even ask for a discount)?? How much of a discount should I suggest?? 10%? Any suggestions on how to stand them up/secure them in a school gym??


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

You may be able to pick their corn off the stalks and they'll give them to free.


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

oh and you can use twine and strap them on your back, that will work.


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

Hahhahaa..you dork. I don't carry things..that's why I had KIDS!!

(Just kidding....kinda).


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

I wasn't


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

I know how to get them to the car. I'm trying to figure out how to stand them up so they won't squash a kid if they fall over at the dance.


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

"you can use twine and strap them on your back"


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## Hauntiholik (May 17, 2006)

I'd take a small bucket, add a length of pvc and concrete. You can tie the stalks to the pvc.


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## scareme (Aug 29, 2006)

I've never bought stalks from a farmer. But the stalks they sell at our church go for $3 each. I bet they are cheaper direct form the farm.


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

yes, do talk to your local farmer!


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## Dixie (Feb 18, 2009)

What's a local farmer? Corn stalks from a church?

I gotta have someone teach me about this, lol. I don't know that I have ever seen corn that didn't have the Jolly Green Giant on it. (Well, it grows FRIED at the State Fair, of course...)


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## Allen H (Feb 13, 2010)

I use a type of bamboo that grows wild by the road here in TX, it looks alot like cornstalks especially when it dries a bit, I wish i had some pics, but I dont right now I can get some pics of it soon though and post them, it grows near creeks.


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

hahahaha, that made me laugh...SO glad i didn't have anything in my mouth Dix!!


Dixie said:


> What's a local farmer? Corn stalks from a church?
> 
> I gotta have someone teach me about this, lol. I don't know that I have ever seen corn that didn't have the Jolly Green Giant on it. (Well, it grows FRIED at the State Fair, of course...)


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## fick209 (Aug 31, 2009)

lmao, Dixie!!!

Debbie, talk to any local farmers that may be in your area. I have never paid a penny for any cornstalks. I have been asked to remove the corn, but then I can take what I want


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## trishaanne (Aug 20, 2005)

In NJ you will NEVER find a farmer offering to let you have cornstalks for free. They charge anywhere from $7-10 for a bunch of them. I just saw Walmart selling them...ONE STALK for $5.00.

I need some myself too, and was thinking of taking hubby on a midnight run. He can stand lookout while I snip a few growing closest to the side of the road. I figure within a week I'll have enough! He, however, said no. Mr. Goody Two Shoes, federal agent. So, I guess that only leaves one thing.....does anyone in this area want to make a midnight run to some local corn fields with me? We can split them 50/50!


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

Last year, I cut over 200 stalks from the farmers field across from my parents. They went up in front of my drive as my entrance pillars. I didn't pay for the stalks and just saved the corn for the farmer. Even if I had taken the corn, it would not have been much. When you look at what the corn prices are, 200 stalks makes up maybe a bushel or two of corn. Corn at less than 30 per bushel makes it pretty cheap. You are not hurting a farmer by taking the stalks with permission. When they harvest the fields, all of the stalks are destroyed anyway. 

Find a local farmer or just take a drive to the country and find a farm house and ask. You will be surprised that most will be happy to help a church function and would likely give you permission to take as much as you want. 

Just bring a bow saw with you and one quick cut will take off a stalk a couple inches off the ground. I would just suggest removing the corn first which is easy by breaking off the husk. Toss them all in a barrel and give them back to the farmer. 

Good luck on the project.


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## MrGrimm (May 19, 2009)

I too will need quite a few this year, but the local farmers market is selling them from anywhere between 4$ to 8$ each!

I guess I'll have to pull off a midnight run like trishaanne


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

Allen, I think I know what plant you are talking about! Might be a good backup plan, thanks!
I just remembered that every summer, I chat with an old guy who owns a farm near me...it's where I go blueberry picking (he asked me if I wanted to buy his farm. I WISH I could!). I don't know if he put in corn this year...will have to stop by. $8 a bunch is NUTS!! I just saw yesterday they are $4.50 here at the supermarket, which means I can get them for $2-$3 out in the boondocks. I gottta get lucky & find some for free!!


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## Morticia (Sep 5, 2009)

We pay like $8 here in L.A., but they're big bundles and usually have a fair amount of corn on them as well. We buy it as soon as they come in in the early part of October and let them dry out.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

BTW, there was a recent revival of an older thread about making fake cornstalks here:

http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=12372&highlight=corn+stalks

If anyone comes up with a good way of making corn stalks, it certainly will be cheaper than having someone front the bail money when a haunting miscreant gets arrested for stealing corn from a farmer's field


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## lewlew (Mar 15, 2006)

I have to go with ask the farmer. I use about 4 pickup loads of cornstlaks a year and the farmer is happy to donate them to me once they find out what I use them for.

Same as most of the replys here, we pick the corn off them and offer it back to the farmer. Usually they refuse and we just use it on our cornfeeder for the deer and turkeys.

Even if you offer them something, say $20 for a pickup load, you'll get a good response I'm sure.

But go for free first....

(Thought about the midnight raid thing and that's just too much stress at an already stressful time of year. If you decide to risk it, wear your scariest mask and scare the @#$ out of the officers who come to arrest you!)


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## RandalB (Jun 8, 2009)

Same as above, I needed a ton of stalks for the pumpkin patch room of my charity haunt, local farmer gave us all we could take if we removed the corn first. No charge but we will give them a gift card to a local eatery after the event with a thank you. Just in case we need more in the future. 

HTH,
RandalB


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## trishaanne (Aug 20, 2005)

OK.....just to clarify, before anyone from the area calls the authorities on me...I was just kidding on the midnight raid statement...lol.

I contacted a few local farms here and they absolutely refused to even consider donating, or allowing me to pay a lower fee for the stalks. What they told me is basically they either sell them themselves or they sell them to local farm markets, who also add in their share, and I can buy from them. I hate NJ! I don't need that many...just enough to make maybe a ten foot "Children of the Corn" scene. I may have to change that scene, because I'm not spending the kind of money they want for dead plants!


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## Frighteners Entertainment (Jan 24, 2006)

it sounds like they have a market for the stalks, can't really blame them. It would be different if they we just shredding them into the field.


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

Patti-I passed by a whole mess of those bamboo-ish things Allen mentioned today...they really DO look corn-ish. They are usually in swampier soil or culverts next to the road. I plan on digging out my rubber boots & bug spray & lopping them off. I forgot that next to the YMCA parking lot is a field full of 6-8 foot high thistle plants, too. I could use those for my haunt...I don't want some kid falling into them at the dance..I would laugh too hard while getting out my 1st Aid kit...


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## pumpking (Aug 30, 2011)

Here in Mississippi, we have what we call river cane. it looks like corn stalks though we mostly make fishing poles out of it. you could use the thcker bottom half.


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## lewlew (Mar 15, 2006)

Be careful with the bamboo. Make sure you know whether it is an invasive species or not. You don't want to be spreading it around if it is. Call your local conservation office to check on the species of plant and whether it can be moved and when it is in seed.

None of the bamboo species we have are native to the area and some are VERY agressive in taking an area over.


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## trishaanne (Aug 20, 2005)

I'm close to the river, and last year I went and got a bunch of river weeds to mix in with the corn stalks I had to buy. At night, it really was hard to tell the difference, so I'll probably do that again this year. I'll be down there anyway, picking some of the different weeds to bring home and spray paint for our centerpieces for the party. I figure I have to try them now and see if they'll work or not.


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## Haunted Spider (Sep 6, 2010)

Sorry about the luck you are having trishanne, 

Are you asking farmers for corn that are sweet corn or hog corn? Sweet corn stalks are usually sold at farmers markets where as the hog farmers have fields and fields of corn that they plow into the field. There is no way they are picking all of the stalks and bringing them to market. 

Hope it works out for you.


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## dusty588 (Oct 8, 2006)

MrGrimm said:


> I too will need quite a few this year, but the local farmers market is selling them from anywhere between 4$ to 8$ each!
> 
> I guess I'll have to pull off a midnight run like trishaanne


I am looking for some as well. I emailed one of the corn mazes around here and they said they would have some in the next week or two, $5 for 15-20 stalks.


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

Corn is so easy to grow...might be worth it to plant some for next year. The prices you guys are quoting are nuts.


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## debbie5 (Mar 2, 2007)

Okay..it's a dreary day and I did some shopping around. Most cornstalks are $5 for about 10 stalks. But I found a farmer who has them for $3!! Now, if I can just call said farmer & get him to give me a wholesale price...YAY! Now all I need is a few warty pumpkins for under five bucks each and I'm good.


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