I have the same variety - Northern Xtra Sweet. My corn has fallen in years past...Easy to fix - in one shot! In addition to mounding some dirt, I now keep mine permanantly supported. Put a 4 or 5 ft tall stake at each end of the row, tie a strand of wire to each stake - going down each side of the row(a loop) about halfway up the overall hieghth of the stalk - make sense? You might slide the wires up as your corn grows. Also, I "pinch" the strands at a few intervals along the span w/ a twisty - this helps keep it taunt. Its simple and you only have to do this once... Besides tilling in all purpose ferts before I plant, I also use urea when the corn is 1 ft tall and once more when the tassles start to appear. One 16 oz cup of urea per 100 ft row - so about 8oz for your 4 rows (48 ft). Your corn is not tasseling early...Once you can start to see the tassles inside the plant, the stalks will grow another 2-3 ft (or more) before the tassles actually "come out". You're fine! With only 4 rows, you might need to hand pollinate your corn to help INSURE good pollination. It really is easy, but timing is everything here...Search this forum for "hand pollinating corn", but basically all you are doing here is rubbing the tassles on the silk... at the right time...

I think hitting the ground just before the summer solstice could have hastened maturity, too. I've had this happen with early corn that I got out late. Always learning something new: the Big Wind blew over the early corn just after it had set ears. We propped em up with stakes and ropes, and they made quota -- 50 nice ears from 50 row feet. For all I know, their sloppy stature enhanced productivity due to increased photosynthesis.

Farming is an input in/profit out business more than how much the crop is expected to be worth on the open market for the most part. On no-irrigation land, if corn isn't demanding a high enough price a lot of farmers will grow drought tolerant wheat (or another area specific crop) because the risk and cost of additional inputs for water/nutrients/weed control/etc aren't worth it...that hasn't been a huge issue lately with high corn prices (which are expected to decline slightly this year, btw). This is just a single example.

Wesserma, One point I would like to bring up about the USDA. When you fill out your form to obtain the seed, I recommend you list an Organization. If you put 'Wesserma Seeds' (or something like that) you won't ever get hassled. You also need to fill out the the section for intended use. Just say something using the words 'breeding' or 'research' and you are golden. Otherwise they will send you a one time only order. You'll get a letter saying it's a one time offer to gardeners. If you do it like I said, then you can get as many orders as you want. Of course, you only order one accession once, and not many times. You need to save the seed from the accessions you obtain. You can make multiple orders to get different accessions. In my expert opinion, some of the tropical corn varieties are hard to save seed unless you jump through hoops. What I recommend you do; so you are not dependent on tropical corn pimps hustling their proprietary tallest corn, is to find your self some very large temperate varieties and cross it with your tropicals. Once you can get consistent ears on your plants, then you can do selecting for taller ones. R.H Shumway has one called Goliath Silage. The current Iowa State Fair champ used Goliath to get a 18'4" plant. https://www.rhshumway.com/shumsite/shumsiteviewproduct.aspx?ProductID=16954 USDA also has some nice sized temperate corn http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1026853 Local name: White Dent. Native white dent with over 30 years of culture on the Sallee and Singer farm. GROWTH PLTHEIGHT 530 MORPHOLOGY EARHEIGHT 115 TAXONOMIC PRIMRACE corn belt dent http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/search.pl?accid=Ames+22133 Ames 22133 Unverified name: Imperial White. Narrative Grain: Medium size grain, white dent. Medium hard texture. Plants: Tall (about 15-17 feet) with high ears (some 8 to 9 feet). White open-pollinate maize variety called "Imperial White" Grown By Tom Lemoine near New Rhodes, Louisiana for over 50 years. The original seed was passed on to him from his father. Medium size grain, white dent. Tom Lemoine uses some ears for fresh roasting a "good eating corn". Collected late June 1994. There are many intersting tropicals on USDA besides Jala ----------------------------------------------------- http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1333879 Local name: Olotillo blanco. Value: TALL-PLANT-EXTREME_YES Qualifier: INSTANCE_001. - First miscellaneous observation made under this environment. Comment: J. Hanneman, Michigan, APR 1999. 6.94 meters (22.8 ft.). http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1374062 Other or unclassified name: Trinidad 12. Value: TALL-PLANT-EXTREME_YES Qualifier: INSTANCE_001. - First miscellaneous observation made under this environment. Comment: J. Hanneman, Michigan, APR 1999. 5.76 meters (18.9 ft.). http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1373836 PI 478900 mays one of tallest accessions in cimmyt database on singer Other or unclassified name: San Luis Potosi 107. Collected in: Mexico besides corn, you can get some other large plants from the USDA ----------------------------------------------------- Teosinte http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1087292 Zea nicaraguensis Dense 1 ha stand, 3-5 meters tall, once ubiquitous, now very rare in region http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1336870 Zea mays subsp. huehuetenangensis *my notes* grows 5 meters in native environment. Someone in SE USA grew one to 18 ft. ----------------------------------------------------- Sunflowers http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1327441 Collected in: Arizona, United States Sand dune dooryard garden. Plants to 5m tall, some multi-headed. Achenes striped. Introduced cultivar. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1080519 Collected in: Nebraska, United States Seed collected from 28 plants. Population scattered along disturbed area of the roadside ditch, in channel. Plants extremely tall, some 4 to 5 m, branching equally up and down the stem, looking uniformly spaced. Heads as large as we have seen, but definately are still wild. Seed set good, some insect damage to head (Suleima) no apparent rust. ----------------------------------------------------- Pearl Millet http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1456591 Plants flower 64 to 68 days after planting. Plants average 4.4 and 3.2 feet tall, planted June 13 and July 18, respectively. Seeds brownish-gray in color. ttp://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1484057 Strongly photoperiod sensitive, takes about 90 d to flower and 130 d to maturity for mid-June planting. Plant height about 3.3m, ear head length 31 to 37cm, candle shaped, globular light gray grain (9-11 g 1000 seed-1) with a vitreous endosperm. ----------------------------------------------------- Amaranth http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1448048 Amaranthus australis Local name: Giant Amaranth. Collected in: Florida, United States Large plants, up to 485 cm tall. Basal circumference 24 to 56 cm. The stems are hollow, with stem walls 1.5 cm thick, purple-red or green. If water level is high, roots grow out of the stem. Plants dioecious, still in flower at collection time. Low water level during germination is said to favor establishment. Frosts in October are said to kill the plants yearly. GROWTH PLNTHEIGHT 330.00 Value: Tall growing Sample size: 26. Comment: row 128 An individual plant grew to 453 cm (15 ft 1 inch) measured and was accepted as the Guinness World's Record Tallest Amaranth. This accession grows unusually tall, but other A. australis and A. cannabinus accessions are similar.. *IMAGE* http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/images/nc7/accvoucher/Amaranthus/PI_500000-PI_599999/PI_553076/i/PI_553076_89ncao51_SD_PL_FL_2005-08-15_01.jpg ----------------------------------------------------- Sorghum http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1245110 Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench POACEAE Institute identifier: IS 11331. Collected in: Ethiopia (Comment: Collected Sept.-Nov., 1967) Plant 3.0 m high. Head open, lax, rachis retracted, crookneck; glumes two-thirds of seed, light tan, awned; seed small, white. GROWTH PLANTHGT 730.0 (*my note* ?? typo? ) http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/search.pl?accid=329722 Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench POACEAE Institute identifier: IS 11458. Collected in: Ethiopia (Comment: Collected Sept.-Nov., 1967) Plants 18 m tall. Heads open, lax, 230 cm long. Glumes nearly cover seed, awned. Seed brown light brown. This collection represents the variation in the field. PHENOLOGY FLOWERING photoperiod sensitive GROWTH PLANTHGT 450.0 my image (all tall plants left of me - not in bloom) http://www.gardenpics.com/photos/data/500/sorghum14ft_10_13_06.JPG http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/search.pl?accid=482936 Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench POACEAE Donor identifier: TGR 2015. Collected in: Zimbabwe (Comment: Received through IBPGR) Race Kafir/Guinea. Plants very tall. PHENOLOGY FLOWERING photoperiod sensitive PHENOLOGY PHOTOPER sensitive, few heads, no seed production my image (one plant on right - in bloom) http://www.gardenpics.com/photos/data/500/sorghum14ft_10_13_06.JPG http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1210101 Unverified name: Galang Oualema. Collected in: Chad Plants grow to 5 meters high, mature in 5.5 months; panicles very long; glumes open; seeds crosswise, white, flat, without brown hulls, hard. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1210102 Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench POACEAE Unverified name: Mir N'da'. Collected in: Chad Plants grow to 5 meters high, mature in 5.5 months; panicles very long; glumes fully open; seeds crosswise, white, flat, without brown hulls, hard. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1210121 Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench POACEAE Unverified name: Mir. Collected in: Chad Plants grow to 5 meters high, mature in 5 months; stalks slender; panicles long, lax; seeds transverse, red, starchy, with brown hulls. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/acc/display.pl?1244782 Sorghum arundinaceum (Desv.) Stapf POACEAE Institute identifier: IS 11010. Collected in: Ethiopia (Comment: Seed collected Sept. - Nov., 1967) Plants 9 m high. PHENOLOGY PHOTOPER very insensitive, headed out, seed produced ----------------------------------------------------- There are many more than just this, but it should give you a good start.