The quantity and quality of hybrid seed produced in a seed-bearing genotype of maize (Zea mays L) can be limited by pollen amount and temporal distribution during flowering. The seed industry and researchers have attempted to measure and establish spatial and temporal distribution of maize pollen using various field tools. Labor requirement, consistency and accuracy of collected data, environmental constraint, and cost have had great impact on utilization of existing pollen quantification methodologies. The objectives of this study were to design a reliable measuring tool and processing technique to measure maize pollen. The development of an automated pollen trap increases the capability to collect pollen shed amounts on a daily basis in a large number of fields. Various pollen collection techniques were compared with automated pollen traps. Several modifications were made to improve the automated pollen trap operation and optimize retention media. The quantity of pollen collected with the liquid automated pollen trap compares favorably to pollen collected on dry media traps. The pollen moderately kept its integrity in the liquid media and the liquid samples allowed for high throughput counting. Several manufacturers provide particle size analyzers with different capabilities and costs that can be used to quantify the amount of pollen collected within the pollen trap containers. The automated pollen trap has a wide range of capabilities that can be utilized to determine temporal pollen load within a field and can be strategically placed to capture spatial variation.