Evan from Iowa asks,
Hey Bill, my family is planting another two acre corn food plot this year on our farm in Fayette county, IA, and we were wondering about mowing a portion. One of our friends told us that if you mow the corn then it is considered baiting, but I’ve never heard that before. Is this true or not?
Bill responds,
Topic: Mowing Corn
Deer do prefer to pick corn off the ground rather than pull it from the standing stalk and for that reason, they are drawn to areas where the corn is on the ground.
Evan,
The best bet is to ask your local conservation officers. I have talked to a few different ones in Iowa and some think that knocking the corn down is OK, but mowing it (which scatters the grain) is not OK. Others aren’t concerned about either practice. I have not met an officer yet that says that knocking it down is illegal, but I have not talked to all of them.
I have also not talked to the enforcement bureau chief about it to get the interpretation of the central office. In the area where I sold my farm, that officer was OK with knocking it down but didn’t like mowing it, but I don’t believe he ever wrote any tickets for mowing corn either, so in the end he never pressed his interpretation.
Like I said, just ask your local game warden how he interprets that rule and you will be fine. Good luck. (5/20/21)
