Seed corn · Detasseling · Roguing · Est. 2021
Honest summer work in the seed corn.
Twenty years in the rows, four seasons running the crew. Adult workers, piece-rate pay, and a camp full of people who come back year after year — experienced hands earn over $30 an hour.
The work
Two jobs, one season.
Every summer, seed corn companies need crews to walk their fields. Roguing comes first — a team sweep to pull mutant corn before it can pollinate. Then comes detasseling — pulling the tassels from the female rows so the hybrid seed sets true. It's real fieldwork: early mornings, long rows, and pay that tracks exactly what you get done.
The record
Twenty years in the corn.
Robert started walking seed corn in 2005 and took over the crew from his mentor in 2021. Since then Green Mile has fielded a crew four consecutive seasons — under contract with Hartung Brothers and then Beck's Superior Hybrids — covering our standard 300 detasseling acres a year plus roguing contracts up to 1,500 acres. Every contract completed. Every field cleaned until it passed the 99.7% inspection standard.
The crew is the other half of the record: a deep bench of returning veterans, and a proven way of training rookies into hands who earn real money by their second week.
Seed company with acres to cover? Contracts for 2027 get decided over the winter. Here's what we bring.
Compensation
We pay more.
Green Mile runs on a piece rate: you're paid for the blocks you clean, not the hours you stand around. The harder and smarter you work, the more you make — and we keep transparent records so you always know where you stand.
Crew life
Suffer together, laugh together.
Most of the crew camps together near the fields — tents, camp stoves, tailgate suppers, and sunsets you don't get anywhere else. It's hard work in hot corn, and that's exactly why the same people keep coming back. Plenty of our crew have walked the rows together for years.
The season
Five weeks, start to finish.
Late June — arrive
The crew rolls in, sets up camp near the fields, and gets oriented before the corn is ready.
Early July — roguing
Ten to twelve days of team sweeps, pulling rogue corn ahead of pollination.
Mid-July — detasseling
Two to three weeks of firsts and seconds through the female rows. This is where the money is made.
Early August — paid out
Fields pass inspection, final checks go out, and the crew scatters until next year.
The roster
Want in on the next season?
Acres for 2027 get decided over the winter — and when a contract lands, the season comes together fast. Get your application in now and you'll be the first call.