Corn Report: How much corn is in that field

Me, the men and the corn. 

On Friday, I went on a brand new adventure called a crop tour. The Boy will tell you about how geeked up I was about the whole deal, but seriously I was pretty excited.

So what is a crop tour? Well, our crop tour was just in our county. People divided up into teams (teams does not mean a competition I found out) and explore corn fields in the area to try and determine the possible amount of corn that will be harvested.

Have you heard on the news how this year's corn crop is going to be way down? How in the world do they determine that before the corn is even harvested. Well there is a formula and I learned all about it on the crop tour.

First you need 30 feet of rope. You lay that rope down against a random row, and count how many ears are along the 30 feet. Next they picked the ears off of the 3rd, 8th and 11th stalks and brought them in for counting. You do this in a couple different spots in the field to get a more accurate idea.

OK back at the truck now. There is a formula where you count how many kernels around the corn is (16 is ideal) and measure how long it is and then include the pervious stalk counts in your calculation. Boom you have an approximation of how many bushels an acre you will get in that field.

Now what does any of this mean to you that don't live on a farm or have anything to do with a farm. Well the bushels (bu) in our area are going to be way down. The fields we did were anywhere from 80+ bu to 211 bu. Our area of the country is corn country, and is known for consistently producing 200+ bu corn. Bottom line. Food prices are going up. 

You can see that there was a lot of variation, and that guy at the bottom
isn't very healthy. All these ears came from the same field.

Because livestock are fed corn in addition to forages like grass, and corn syrup is found in all those sugary sweets we enjoy like pop our country needs a lot of corn, and there isn't going to be a lot of it this year. If you want to see more pictures you can check out www.newscoffeeshop.com or on Twitter find the hashtag #croptour12

Corn Report: It's a little shady in the cornfield

The third corn report.

You can tell summer is flying by looking at the cornfields. Last week I was in Des Moines, Iowa for the World Pork Expo. We are talking more than 2100 pigs and a lot of kids and parents all loving agriculture! It was a really fun event to be apart of, plus I don't think I have ever ate that much pork in one week. We are talking about ribs, sausage, pork loin, pork chops and bacon.

This weekend the Boy pointed out two changes in the cornfield. One the corn is becoming shaded. That means that the corn leaves are covering the rows so you can really see the dirt anymore. This is helpful because since the is less sunlight where the weeds will grow they will normally die on there own.

You can really tell a difference compared to two weeks ago. This picture was take on May 5. 

And this was the corn on June 10. I am currently in my golfing attire. The Boy and I decided to sneak away from the farm on Sunday afternoon to get in a round. 

The other thing that the Boy pointed out was how dry the corn is. See how the corn is curling, that means it is dry. We got a tiny bit of rain on Monday night, but we'll need a lot more. Especially as the plant grows taller. Just like growing kids, growing corn needs a lot of nutrition. 

Did you know in 2011 Iowa corn farmers 2.3 billion bushels of corn on 13.7 million acres of land. A bushel of corn weighs about 56 pounds. 

PETA and HSUS and Rick Santorum

The power of social media

I posted this note about Rick Santorum on my Facebook page earlier this week, and now wanted to share on my blog. It has been shared nearly a 100 times on Facebook, and I encourage you to click on the link and share with your friends if you feel passionately about this as well.

I don't get to vote yet, but I sure have heard a lot about Iowa politics the past few months. I think there are a positives and negatives in a lot of the Republican candiates, however supporting HSUS would definitely scratch you off my list. 

"Jan Swan Wood, columnist in Tri-State Livestock News told readers that have friends in Iowa to be careful who they vote for in the primaries. Rick Santorum, (R-PA) supports PETA and HSUS. Both of those animal rights organizations love him, too. The animal rights political action committee, HumaneUSA, gave $5,00 to Santroum's 2006 re-election bid and has promised to campaign aggressively for him in a presidential big. HSUS's President and CEO, Wayne Pacelle, has nothing but praise for Santorum as well."

Thanks Jennifer Carrico for sharing. And if you have Iowa friends, feel free to share. 

Update: Check out this blog to find out which Senate and House members support HSUS. 

http://eburnsthompson.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/whats-your-humane-score/

Suppertime happens twice a day

Who's hungry. 

We weigh the grain
out so we know how
much each calf is receiving.

Ok obviously I eat more than twice a day. I mean I need three meals a day and then my mom always called my a grazer. I think snacks are awesome! However, our calves that we are getting ready to show get fed twice a day, and then have the opportunity to graze grass or eat hay (dried grass in-between).

Last week I took this video of feeding time. I don't really explain the ration (grain mix) very well, so here is more of an explanation. It contains corn as well as oats, minerals, a little beet pulp and a few other ingredients like the pelleted stuff which is Sure Champ. Sure Champ is a prebiotic to help the cattle's digestive system function to the best of its ability.



Ally the heifer calf in the video is one of my favorites, however she isn't the one getting all the attention right now. Two heifers by the name of Show Goes On (Sally) and Firework are getting lots of baths, hair cuts and time spent on their hair. That's because in February we are going to sell both of them, and they'll need their pictures taken soon. Just another day on the farm.

Trick or Treat it's Moving Day

No goblins, just a lot of boxes

After a crazy week of packing up boxes it was time to move from my Missouri residence of near four years and head northeast to my new home in Iowa. I don't consider my self a collector or a pack rat, yet it is amazing home much stuff you can collect over the years.

And therefore the most logical way for a farm girl to move is a truck and livestock trailer.

The Boy brought down the stock trailer on Thursday night, and left it parked on our residential street through Sunday while we were getting engagement pictures done and spending some time at The American Royal. I am not sure what our neighbors thought. In a way they should be used to it. My roommate Robin parent's often laid over at our house with seed tenders and other farm equipment in tow. 

It all fit, with plenty of room to spare. I was lucky that the Boy decided that he would at least pressure wash the stock trailer out and lay some tarps down before we loaded everything. 

It was a little surreal arriving at our new home last night. I still had my trusty red suitcase, but it finally dawned on me that this time I could actually unpack it. Although, at this time I have no idea where I am going to put my stuff! Wish us luck with the merging of two closets. 

It's Harvest Time - Corn Report

Handfuls of Gold

See the dents in the
kernels? One sign the corn
is ready for harvest. 

I always think corn looks like gold. Which maybe is a little true because those kernels are worth a pretty penny. As I made my trip northeast this weekend it was fun to see which fields had been harvested and which were a long ways away.

The Boy's family is one of those that aren't quite in full swing. Remember when we talked about the milk line? Well right now there is still too much moisture in the corn. So there are two options 1. Wait for the corn to mature more and dry on the stalk - downfall is that some family's have contracts they have to fill so they need to get the corn harvested or 2. Harvest the corn and then use dryers and fans to bring the moisture down - this can be expensive because of the cost to fuel needed for the dryers.

I learned all this hanging out at the elevator this weekend.

I also am now an expert at moisture testing corn. You could easily become an expert, too. 

First the trucks haul the corn from the field to the elevator. The trucks weight in when they arrive and when they leave to help calculate the bushels of corn. 

The truck then drives into this covered shed. I forgot to ask the technical term so we are going with open ended covered shed.

The corn is then dumped in this hole (more technical terms). From here the corn will move to the dryer or to storage.

Then in one quick scoop you stick a coffee can in that stream of corn to collect a sample. 

This is the corn moisture testing machine. A sample of corn is placed in the holder. Then you press the button that says A. I'm a pro at this part. 

And boom it gives you a number. This corn is at 26.1% moisture, which is way too high for storage, so they'll have to dry this corn. We want the corn to be dried down to 15% moisture. That way it won't mold.

That big truck that came in had about 860 bushels on corn in it, and when that corn is dried down we'll be left with about 710 bushels. The future father in law did some math for me and with corn being worth about $6 right now the corn in that truck is worth about $5,000! 

And since yesterday we talked about what fashion apparel you where to a cattle sale, this is what you where at the elevator. Purple Polo hat because K-State is awesome and they beat Miami, a warm jacket because it is getting cold - yeah for fall, my new favorite scarf from Southern Jewlz, and my favorite accessory - the Boy! Happy harvesting.

A Turquoise Wedding

Here comes the bride.

My shower gift to Jaci.
We hung her wedding dress on
it for pictures. 

No, we aren't talking about my wedding, rather my future sister-in-law's wedding. Over Labor Day weekend Jaci and Jason got hitched. It was a beautiful wedding with a beautiful bride, and the groom looked good too.  Plus, she choose turquoise/Tiffany blue/pool as her wedding color. Every company has a different name for the color. I thought it would be only fitting that I feature her wonderful wedding in a Turquoise Thursday.

Our first mission. Get the bride into her dress. 

The dresses Jaci picked were in a color called Pool. Not only did they look great, but they were super comfortable. The sandals came from Aldo. 

The happy new family

Jaci and Jason with their bulldog Grover

This is where the meal was served. We snuck in before they brought the flowers in.

The wedding was held at Heartland Acres Agribition Center. I've talked about Heartland before, home of the World's Largest Tractor - Big Bud, and an agriculture leaning center. However, they also have an events center. I highly recommend it for anyone in Eastern Iowa looking for an events center. 

Cocktail hour was hosted here, and then the room was switched over for the dance.

But make sure you call early because it books up fast. So fast that the Boy and I weren't able to get a date there for our wedding!

My handsome date

The Boy's family loves fireworks. So what would a wedding be without a spectacular display? Sorry no firework pictures. Just use your imagination. 

It was great to see some old Hereford friends. 

This is my favorite picture of Jaci and her Maid of Honor.

And then we danced the night away.

I think it is safe to say we had a pretty good time. This is the Boy's Aunt (his family is awesome) and I am wearing Jon's future Best Man's tie. A nice fashion accessory to the turquoise dress. 

And the next morning I wrapped up the Boy's cousin and we have him to Jaci and Jason as a wedding present. 

Congrats, Jaci and Jason. All the happiness in the world. 

Dogs and Cornfields - Corn Report

An Iowa weekend

This weekend I headed to Iowa, but not to the Boy's home. Instead we met half way in Ames, Iowa, for the Iowa vs Iowa State football game. After the Boy attending two K-State games last year I promised that I would go to an Iowa game. Yes, that is right I cheer for Iowa, not ISU. K-State is my Big 12 school.

Enjoying a little tailgating, even though they lost the game. You can't see it in the picture, but I did wear my K-State Alumni pin. 

The Boy helped me out with the corn report though snapping these pictures of his dog Skye.

Skye getting picked up from the vet. That is where she gets boarded when the Boy is out of town. 

Skye hanging out in front of the cornfield. 

We are now waiting for the corn to completely turn brown, and the moisture to lower. Some farmers will cut the corn even when the moisture is a little high and then use dryers to lower the moisture. However, the with the cost of propane, electricity or natural gas, that is used for these dryers, that can be pretty expensive. So the Boy will patiently wait a little longer until the time is just right to save some expense.

To read other corn reports and see the corn grow over the summer click on the Watch Corn Grow link. 

Deep inside the cornfield - Corn Report

Inside the field. 

Wow back to back corn reports, I know I am on a roll. Since there hasn't been much visual change in the height of the corn I thought this time I would bring you inside the cornfield. But first let's once again see what the field looked like last week.

The cornfield on August 27, 2011. 

And this was the field on September 5, 2011. However, I promised to take you into the cornfield. So, here we go.

The tops of the corn stalks are still really green, however the bottoms are starting to turn brown. Harvest is getting closer. 

You can look down the rows and see how straight they are. They use GPS to plant the fields leaving the rows incredibly straight. You can also see some stalks on the ground. Those stalks called residue and are left on the field to return nutrients back to the soil.

And sometimes you find a corn monster in those cornfields. 

Last week I blogged about why the corn is black on the end. 

And although I have been told by the "Iowa" corn experts I have been pretty accurate in my corn reports I did get straightened out on one thing. What you are looking at above is an ear of corn. Once the kernels come of it is then a corn cob. 

So where does all this corn produced in the U.S. go? 14% to exports, 39% Livestock & Dairy feed, 47% to food, seed and industrial, according to the USDA. That means our cows get some of it, and some ends up on your plates!

Not Blogging Today

I am on vacation. 

That's right folks I started by vacation last night with a five hour drive to Iowa. I get to stand up beside my future sister in law while see gets married this weekend. I hope you have a wonderful long week. Drop me a line and let me know what you'll be up to. And finally don't forget today is the last day to enter the Farmer's Trophy Wife and I's giveaway. Check it out!

My Driving to Iowa look. This picture was actually taken last weekend. See you Tuesday.

What does corn in Iowa look like?

Corn Report V

Ok, folks it is time for another Crystal Cattle unofficial Corn Report. I say unofficial because there are a thousand (probably more) people out there than know a lot more about corn than I do, but I love learning about it. So what did I learn this week? Well first let's compare how much it has grown.

This was the cornfield (the same one we camped in our tent by) on August 2, 2011.

And this is what that same field looked like on August 27, 2011. It keeps getting taller, however here's the cooler stuff. 

The is the Boy's forearm. The corn cobs are huge. This particular cob was 18 kernels around. That's good I am told. 

Now to some this corn may look ready to harvest, but the Boy showed me a few more things that we have to look at to help determine when the corn should be harvested. 

click on photo to enlarge

You can see that some of the kernels are dented and some are not. All the kernels must be dented before the corn is ready for harvest. 

The moisture in the cob is also too high right now. If you look closely you can see the change of color in the kernel, this is called the milk line. This line needs to move all the way to the bottom of the kernel before the crop can be harvested. 

Have you ever seen this happen to an ear of corn? I learned that is due to heat stress. These top kernels did not get pollinated resulting in what you see. And that's all for this week's Corn Report. Don't forgot to thank a farmer. 

Don't forget about the giveaway that is also going on right now. 

Camping by the cornfield - 101 update

That list keeps on staring at me.

I always get lot of questions about my 101 list on the side of my blog. It actually wasn't my original idea to do a 101 in 1001 list, there is a whole website dedicated to the idea. When I started 1001 days seemed like lots of time to complete the list, but as I am getting closer there are some things that need to be knocked out.  And the Boy helped me do just that this weekend.

When I arrived at our future home in Iowa the Boy said he had to burn some cardboard. Great a mini campfire sounds fun. It was very dark out by this point, with only a little bit of light coming from the yard light, and cardboard was not lighting very efficiently. As my eyes adjusted to the low light I saw something behind the house, but I couldn't quite tell what it was. I asked the Boy, "What is that over there." There have been painters at the farm all week working on some of the silos, and the Boy responded, "It must be something of the paint crews."

I thought his answer was a little odd, I mean why would the painters put something behind the house. The cardboard caught fire and there was the real answer. The Boy had bought a tent and it was all set up right beside the cornfield!

Our new tent, right beside the cornfield. 

The boy gets major props for doing this. He is not a big fan of camping or tenting as I like to call it, and sure enough he didn't have the best sleep in the world. The next morning went like this. 

Me: How did you sleep

Him: Not good. It was too noisy.

Me: Oh I like the sound of the crickets, and wind moving through the corn

Him cutting me off: and the AIR CONDITIONER! 

I guess next time we'll have to move the tent a little further away from the house! I still had a blast. Stay tuned because tomorrow I'm announcing an awesome giveaway and on Wednesday I will have one of the best corn reports yet.