2011 Iowa Corn Report IV

It keeps growing

I finally made it back to Iowa this weekend. It is fun to watch how the landscape around the Boy's house can changed. His house is only a few feet away from the cornfield. In the winter and then into the spring you can see for miles. Now it feels like we are in a jungle when I look out his window.

This was the corn field on July 4, 2011. 

And this is the corn field now. 

It's huge! And it still has time to grow taller because the corn won't be harvested until this fall. There are also a couple of other significant changes to the corn since I saw it last.

See those pokey things at the top? Those are tassels. The are the part of the plant that holds the pollen. It is then falls from there and is caught my the silks. See below. 

And there are corn cobs on the stalks right now. The silks are that hairy part you rip off. This progress has to happen so the corn can pollenate.

 All over Iowa this weekend people were selling Sweet Corn. The Boy said that many people will use the Sweet Corn crop as an indicator of how the other corn will do. It was a bumper year for them, so he is very excited about their crops. 

This weekend you could also hear the constant buzz of planes over the house. The crop duster planes were out this weekend spraying the corn with fungicide to protect the plants from disease. I wasn't able to get any photos, but Jent at From My Front Porch did. 

Following that slow tractor on the highway

Via Facebook 

This is a photo that has been circulating around facebook. I wanted to post for those that hadn't seen yet.

I know it can be frustrating waiting for or following those tractors, combines or hay trailers on the road, but farmers are just trying to do their job - get crops harvested and hauled so they can feed their animals or feed you. 

Some things to remember if you are around farm equipment:

- Farm machinery may not have brake lights or turning signals, so be sure to give yourself a fair amount of distant and watch closely for farmers making left-hand turns. 

- It is not a requirement that farm equipment operators drive on the shoulder of the road. However, if safe they may pull off to allow traffic to pass. Just remember that road can become soft due to rain and it might not be safe for the operator to pull over. Don't worry you'll get to your destination soon enough.

- It can be hard for the operator to see around the equipment they are towing. Just like a semi, don't follow too closely or else they might not be able to see you 

And as as a farmer it is your duty to make your equipment as visible as possible on the road. Remember that any farm equipment that goes less than 25 miles per hour should display an orange slow moving vehicle sign or SMV emblem on the piece of equipment. Turning on lights or flashers will also increase your visibility. 

If we both take a little more time on the roads everyone can get where they are going safely this summer.

Did you know that according to the American Farm Bureau Federation one U.S. Farmer feed 155 people! That is up considerably compared to only 19 people in 1940 or even 129 people in 1980.