Is there any zakaah due from one who cut corn before it ripened to provide food for his animals?
Question

                There is a peasant who planted some acres of corn; approximately 3 months after planting it, he ground it when the grains and leaves were still green, then he put it together to give it as food to cattle.

My question is: does he have to give zakaah? Please note that he irrigated it with well water.
Praise be to Allah.
    Firstly: 

    In the answer to question no.
    99843 we explained that zakaah 
    is due on grains of types that are measurable and storable, if what the land 
    produces reaches five wasqs, i.e., three hundred saa‘s.  This is equivalent 
    to 612 kg of good-quality wheat; some scholars give the amount as 653 kg. 
    One-tenth is to be given if the crop was irrigated by rainwater, rivers or 
    springs, and half of one tenth is to be given if it was irrigated by costly 
    (artificial) means. 

    Based on that, if the corn is of a type that is measurable 
    and storable, if the amount produced exceeds three hundred saa‘s, because 
    the cultivated land covers a large area, then for the corn that is produced 
    zakaah must be given at the rate of half of one tenth, because water was 
    brought from the well to irrigate the crop, which can only be done by costly 
    means such as machines, fuel and so on. 

    Secondly: 

    What we have mentioned above about the minimum threshold 
    (nisaab) for zakaah on grains is the first condition for zakaah being 
    obligatory. The second condition is that this minimum amount should have 
    been in his possession at the time that zakaah became due. 

    The time when zakaah becomes due on grains is when they 
    become hard, and on other crops it is when they become visibly ripe. This is 
    the view of the majority of fuqaha’, apart from Abu Haneefah, who said that 
    zakaah becomes due when the crops begin to appear; it is also different from 
    the view of those, among the Hanbalis and others, who say that the time when 
    it becomes due is when it is harvested. 

    In al-Mawsoo‘ah al-Fiqhiyyah (15/12 it says: 

    The majority of fuqaha’ are of the view that zakaah becomes 
    due on crops when they have visibly ripened, because in that case the crop 
    is fully developed. 

    End quote. 

    Al-Maawardi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

    With regard to the zakaah on grains, it becomes obligatory 
    when they become dry, hard, strong and been harvested. The zakaah should be 
    paid after they have been threshed and sifted, when only the grain is left.

    Al-Haawi al-Kabeer, 3/243 

    Ibn Qudaamah (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

    The time when zakaah becomes due on grains is when they 
    become hard, and in the case of crops is when they have visibly ripened.

    Ibn Abi Moosa said: Zakaah becomes due on grains on the day 
    of harvest, because Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “but pay 
    the due thereof (its Zakat) on the day of its harvest” [al-An ‘am 6:141]. 

    To sum up: if he disposed of the crop or grains before zakaah 
    became due, then he does not have to do anything, because he disposed of it 
    before it became due. This is similar to the case if he had eaten or sold 
    his livestock before zakaah became due on it. But if he disposed of it after 
    zakaah became due on it, then zakaah is not waived, as would also be the 
    case if he had done that with the livestock. According to both scholarly 
    views, zakaah does not definitely become obligatory until the crops are in 
    the basket and the grains are on the threshing floor. If they are destroyed 
    before that, not by his actions or due to any negligence on his part, then 
    he does not have to give zakaah. 

    Al-Mughni, 2/300 

    Based on that, if a person cuts a crop on which zakaah is 
    ordinarily due in order to use it as animal feed, for example, he does not 
    have to give zakaah on what he cut, because what he cut was not the grain or 
    crop on which zakaah is due. What is left of hard (i.e., fully developed) 
    grains should be examined, and if it reaches the minimum threshold (nisaab) 
    then zakaah is due on it, otherwise it is not. 

    It is not permissible for the one who has grains to 
    deliberately cut them before they are fully developed with the aim of 
    evading zakaah, otherwise he is sinning, and some scholars regard it as 
    obligatory for him to pay zakaah in this case.

    Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have 
    mercy on him) said: 

    In our opinion there are two conditions: 

    1.That the minimum threshold 
    (nisaab) be reached

    2.That this amount should be in 
    his possession at the time when zakaah becomes due

    The words “when the grain becomes hard (i.e., fully 
    developed) and the crop becomes visibly ripe, zakaah becomes due” – he 
    previously stipulated that the minimum amount should be in his possession at 
    the time when zakaah becomes due. 

    The time when it becomes due is when the grain becomes hard, 
    i.e., when it becomes strong and fully formed, and does not yield if pressed 
    (i.e. it is not soft). 

    The crop becoming visibly ripe, with regard to the fruit of a 
    date palm, is when it turns red or yellow; with regard to grapes, it is when 
    they soften up and become sweet. In other words, instead of being hard they 
    become soft, and instead of being sour they become sweet. 

    When the grain is hard and the crop is visibly ripe, zakaah 
    becomes due; before that it is not due. 

    In addition to that we could also say: if it is destroyed – 
    even by his own actions – such as if the grain is harvested before it 
    becomes hard (fully developed), or the crop was cut before it ripened, then 
    no zakaah is due on them, because that happened before zakaah became due. 
    But they said that if he did that in order to evade zakaah, it is still 
    obligatory for him, as a punishment that fits his crime and because everyone 
    who uses tricks to evade some duty, that duty becomes binding on him.

    Ash-Sharh al-Mumti‘ ‘ala Zaad 
    al-Mustaqni‘, 6/75-80 

    To sum up: 

    If this farmer cut the grain before it became hard (i.e., 
    fully-formed), then he does not have to pay any zakaah. He does have to pay 
    zakaah if the grain was hard and fully-formed, if what was harvested reached 
    the minimum threshold (nisaab). 

    And Allah knows best.