About Us

Ailes Detasseling believes and realizes that our workers are the heart of our operation. Because of this, we treat our workers with respect and insist that they respect each other.

Experience has shown us that our workers respond and work to their fullest potential in a positive work environment. We diligently strive to maintain that environment for our crew members and we will not tolerate any activity or behavior that prevents us from accomplishing that goal.

Our aim is to make detasseling an enjoyable experience for our workers while at the same time striving to be a top detasseling team.

Ailes Detasseling is a well respected company in the seed corn industry and we are entering our 24th summer of providing a positive work environment for adolescent teens.  We manage our business on Christian principles, with main operations located in Lincoln, NE.

In 1996, when we first began our detasseling endeavor we ran just one bus and employed approximately 40 adolescents. Since then, we have grown into one of the larger corn detasseling contractors in the Lincoln area, running as many as 12 buses and employing approximately 600 adolescents each summer.  We currently contract detasseling acres with Pioneer and Monsanto Seed companies.

Tim Ailes is the owner of Ailes Detasseling. Prior to operating the detasseling business, Tim had 30 years of management experience in the business world. He is currently enjoying semi-retirement and still providing oversight to Ailes Detasseling.

Brent Ailes, Co-Owner of Ailes Detasseling, manages the field operations of Ailes Detasseling and is also Tim’s son. Brent worked as a 7th grade math teacher, a team leader and the Athletic Director at Goodrich Middle School for nine years in education.  After Goodrich, Brent was an Administrator at the Bryan Focus Program for three years. He then transitioned to an Associate Principal role at Lincoln Southeast High School for three years.  Currently, Brent is the Secondary Principal at Lincoln Christian School.

During college and prior to becoming athletic director, Brent coached middle school sports for 7 years. He started detasseling at age 16, learned about running the business, and is now the primary person in charge of the operation. Brent has a God given talent and a true passion to work with, encourage and motivate young adolescents.

In his professional career, Brent has completed his Master’s Degree in Secondary Administration and he has received a Gold Star Award for his approach to teaching and working effectively with students.

Brent is actively involved in his church and served as a youth sponsor for over 10 years. In his free time, Brent enjoys different sporting activities and spending time with his wife and 3 daughters.

Ailes Detasseling’s supervisors are all hand picked and must all possess qualities that enable them to work well with adolescents. All of our supervisors have years of experience working with the 12-17 year age group, with each one of them being either a teacher or youth leader themselves. We have teachers from Southeast High School, Northeast High School, Goodrich Middle School, Southwest High School, Waverly, Lincoln Christian, Norris and Omaha schools out in the field with our crewmembers everyday.

All of our crews are supervised by fun, energetic, well respected, individuals.

Detasseling is the crucial last step in producing hybrid corn seed. It involves removing the pollen producing top part of the plant (the tassel) so the corn cannot pollinate itself. Pollen from another variety of corn grown in the same field will then be carried by the wind to pollinate the corn that has been detasseled.

The result is a hybrid corn seed which produces healthier crops with higher yields.

Machines go through the field before our crews do and remove a percentage of the tassels, but there is still a great need for manual labor to finish the job.

A detasseler reaches up, pulls the remaining tassels that were missed by the machines and drops the tassels to the ground.

· To have a job that still allows time to participate in camps and enjoy vacations.

· To buy needed items for school or sports.

· To help buy a car.

· To save for college.

· To buy Ipods, Mp3 players or electronic equipment.

· To have spending money to go to the mall.

· To learn how to work hard while having fun doing it.

Whatever the reason, corn detasseling is an excellent opportunity for you to learn about teamwork and to earn some money while only having to work 2-4 weeks out of your summer.

We’d love to have you become one of our team members! Please take a moment to look over our entire website for all the information you need to make a decision.

If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to contact us