The Farmer in the Making is Getting Ready for Harvest

We went to check our Little Farmer's corn field last week before I went to the +AgChat Conference and I really thought I would find time to finish this post, but sadly I did not.  We started picking corn just down the road from his field today and he is sure hoping we wait until the weekend to pick his field of corn.

You can see that the stalks have really been drying down and dying.

The ears are really big for our area and many stalks have 2 ears.

The first ear is fully filled and the second ears are small, but they are there!

Farmer Dad broke open an ear, so we could see how big the kernals were.

He also pointed out the black layer.  The Little Farmer and I learned that when the black layer appears in the kernels when the cell walls collapse.  The ear no longer takes in water and nutrients, but the kernels can't shrink either.

The ground in a little dry and the soybeans sure could use a bit of rain if anyone has connections in that department.

We are all pretty excited to see ears that are full to the tip.

My little guy like this little ear.  Where Farmer dad is pointing is where the plant ran out of water and nutrients and decided not to fill the rest of the ear.

Pretty awesome to see ears like that in Southeast Kansas. 

I know this doesn't look that awesome corn to my friends in Illinois and Indiana, but after the past years of drought this is super exciting for us.  The Little Farmer just might have enough corn to pay for all of his expenses. 

How is your week going? 
Do you know where the corn goes when it leaves our farm?
Check out This Little Grain Went to Market if you are curious.

-A Kansas Farm Mom