March 29, 2024

Learning why corn matters

My two year mark of becoming an Iowan is quickly approaching, and I’ve learned a lot about what that designation means.

It means you have to pick a side: Hawkeyes or Cyclones (I still have 0 percent interest in either team, Go Jayhawks.) It means you have to know how to make a dish that either involves the word taco or pizza or brag about Casey’s taco pizza.

Being an Iowan means being kind to and wanting to help your fellow man, and it means knowing the difference between a Level B road and gravel road — two things I had never driven on before moving here.

It also means being aware of the importance of agriculture and its overall impact on just about everything in this state.

This agricultural epiphany hit me, as simple as it sounds, as I  was looking at a corn field one day. As you all know, corn is everywhere in Iowa, which is why we are the top corn producing state in the nation and the true cornhuskers.

Before moving here, corn was just that delicious quasi-vegetable that made popcorn, tasted great off the grill and came from a can to me. Whenever my friends from Kansas City come up, I always point out to them that yes, corn will be everywhere up here.

You go to Walmart, corns growing next to it. You go to Iowa Speedway, corn is growing near the infield and around the facility. You go to a golf course, corn is growing behind the back nine and the list of examples is endless.

I used to think, “what is their obsession with corn up here?” Now, I know.

Corn means jobs. Corn means a strong economy. Corn means fuel and so many other things. It took a while for this to wash over me,  but I get it. Corn is more than a starchy side dish, corn is a part of the economic foundation of the state.

When I was told that I’m the Daily News’ ag reporter last January, I was placed in perhaps the most fish out water scenario one could be placed in. A city boy who never stepped foot on farm before, not even for a school field trip, was tasked with learning about and reporting on in important agricultural issues.

Piece of cake right?

Well trust me, it wasn’t. Ag was/is the most difficult beat for me to cover and it has the steepest learning curve. Despite my struggles with it, I’ve grown to the love the challenge that it brings to me and just the incredible amount of diversity it brings under one banner.

Experiencing those obstacles and trials in this beat is what helped grant my corn epiphany. I now know that’s why non-farmers talk about drought when their morning coffee groups meet, why it’s important to know that BU stands for bushels and not bundles, and why most farmers, in my experience, don’t like to discuss how many acres they have.

So the next time you get caught behind a giant tractor or combine on the streets or highway, (another Iowa exclusive experience for me) do what I do. Take a deep breath and remember that active farmers are a good thing,  and that as annoying as going 20 miles per hour on a 55 mile per hour road is, the corn harvest is a good thing for all of us.

Plus, as a bonus, who doesn’t love to brag about being first in something? If all the predictions are correct, this is going to be the largest harvest in history and Iowa should retain the Corn Crown again. I don’t know about you guys, but I like being part of a winning team.

Contact Senior Staff Writer Ty Rushing at (641) 792-3121 Ext. 6532 or trushing@newtondailynews.com