With spring, comes the planting of corn out at the farm. For those of you that may not know, a farm is where crops grow, and a ranch is where there is usually grassland and/or livestock of any kind -- horses, cattle, whatever. Some people are farmers. Some people are ranchers. And some people are farmers and ranchers. They will let you know. Our family has farm and ranch operations.
At my family's farm, we grow field corn. This corn is planted, grown and harvested for feeding to livestock. We have beef cattle in the ranch operation. In a perfect world, you might be able to grow your own corn to be fed to your own livestock. In a semi-perfect world, you might be able to grow corn to be fed to your own livestock once they enter a feedlot that purchases some of your corn.
When planting a large crop, it is important to wait until the soil is warm enough. Opinions vary, but I've heard everything from 62 degrees Fahrenheit at 3 inches depth, to when you see the volunteer corn emerging.
Corn takes a lot of water. We happen to live in a very dry area of the country, so any corn that is grown around here is irrigated. In this day and time, irrigation here means pivot sprinklers. These sprinklers can be set to go on and off at any desired time, they can apply as much or as little water as possible, and they can be set to any section (as in the degrees of a circle) that you want to water. This is not our farm, but it is an interesting example of how pivot sprinklers can overlap, or only be used partially, and they can be any size.
This image is courtesy of Sky Schemer on flickr.
Below, this isn't our farm, either, but it is a good representation of the area where we live. We have straight county road lines. Normally, we are not inundated with rain or moisture, so the outlying areas are not bright green. It is clear that the same crop isn't being grown everywhere at the same time. Pivot sprinklers come in all sizes. Most are close to a quarter-section, or a half by a half of a mile. Some are ginormous and can be one and a half mile from one end at zero degrees to the other side at one hundred eighty degrees -- at least that's the biggest one I've ever heard about.
Since a lot of water is required to raise this crop, it is important to rotate crops like corn and not plant them back to back every year. Root worms are a common problem if you try to plant corn in the same place time after time. Animal predators are unwelcome when your crop is mature, and we've had problems with raccoons, antelope and deer. Diseases are constantly being battled by seed growers developing hybrids that make the corn we plant more resistant to the common diseases of the moment.
This image is courtesy of brewbooks on flickr.
Here is a close up look of the end of a sprinkler. You can imagine that as the corn crop gets to be 2 to 4 to 6 feet or taller, the water just sprays right down into the ground without blowing or evaporating at all. It's an extremely effective way of watering a moisture-needy plant like corn. Back in the day, Chief used to irrigate with aluminum pipe. It had to be moved every 12-24 hours, you had to shut off the motor to change it, you had to load the pipe on a trailer and move it to another location that needed water. Whew! That was back when he got bit by the rattlesnake. (Another story for another day.)
Here's the seed after it sprouts about ten days after planting. The seed is red because it is treated to protect it while it is in the ground before it sprouts. Chief uses a pocket knife to dig up a seed and see if it is starting to grow. He might do this in several areas around a field.
Here is a picture of a field that was strip tilled. The purpose of strip tilling a field is so that the top soil won't blow away during the time that the last crop is harvested and the new crop is planted. Corn has been planted here, and it is being "watered up."
This is just the way we do it. Usually there is more than one way to skin a cat. Next year we may be doing things differently.
