Knee high by the Fourth of July--Not!

Knee-high corn hard to find here

You’d have to look pretty hard in central Iowa to find some knee-high corn on the Fourth this year. This morning, though, I found some in sandy end rows of a field along the Des Moines River. The rest of the field was head high.

That tough little patch may symbolize the nation’s corn crop this year in a couple ways: There’s a lot of variability out there, and farmers had to work pretty hard to get a lot of this crop in the ground.

In early returns to an Agriculture Online poll, farmers say they’re finding corn measuring from their ankles to over their heads. There’s knee-high, waist-high, shoulder- and head-high corn in about equal parts, according to poll respondents.

“I will have to go with all the above,” commented one farmer who took the poll. “I have corn planted 4-23 that started to tassel on 6-30. And corn planted on 6-1 that is knee high and everything in between.”

Whatever the height of your corn, we do know there’s a lot of it. On Tuesday, USDA predicted the second largest corn acreage (next to ’07) planted since 1946.

And, as in many years, there was plenty of adversity to overcome this spring for farmers around the country to get the crop planted. So, while we’re checking the corn, the Fourth is a good time to recognize the perennial successes of the American farmer.

In a press release this week, the U.S Grains Council pointed out that corn and soybean growers “worked steadfastly” to plant a total of 164.5 million acres, an increase of nearly 3 percent over ’08.

That’s a good word for it: “steadfastly.”

“Time and time again, U.S. farmers are faced with adversity, but their commitment to providing an adequate supply of U.S. feed ingredients as well as their dedication to curbing global hunger perseveres," said USGC President and CEO Ken Hobbie.

Have a great holiday weekend, corn growers. Hope the fireworks are flying over some tall corn in your fields.