Grain Corn at Canabrae Farm
It was Saturday night around 7:00 p.m. when Joe came inside from harvesting corn and said, “I need you to drive the tractor for me. We’re expecting rain tonight and I’d like to finish filling the tractor-trailer so it will be full for Gord to take up to the elevators early in the morning.”
“Drive the tractor??” I said. “Yes!” he said. ” It’s no different from that old Jetta you used to drive. You can even change gears without using the clutch. It will save me time if you can bring the grain buggy out to where the combine is. Hurry and get you coat and boots on, we’ve got to get moving!”
With a great deal of trepidation, I got ready and quickly went out to the field where the tractor (and Joe!) were waiting. He would drive the combine which cuts off and “thrashes”the corn kernels off the dried stocks. He needed the grain buggy to empty each combine load he would have every 2 or 3 passes of the field. Then I would drive the grain buggy over to the tractor-trailer and Joe would unload the harvested corn. After a very quick “lesson” on how to change gears, how fast to go and where to drive the tractor and grain buggy, I climbed up…..way up…into the “cockpit”. Well, I must say that it wasn’t a very smooth ride and I was shaking like a leaf. Even though I’m a confident car driver, I was sure that I’d damage something as the dashboard looked something like pictures of the
inside a 747! ! Somehow I made it out to the north end of the corn field and parked the tractor and buggy in the right spot. I even moved it a few times, gaining a little more confidence each time. In an hour or so, we were done. For a “girl” who grew up in a small town, but not a farm town, I felt quite proud of myself!NOTE: Many people see corn in our fields and on other farms and can’t understand why it’s all drying up and isn’t picked in August or September with the sweet corn. The corn we grow is considered a commodity and is traded on the futures market. We don’t call it “cow corn” as most of my “city” friends do. It is actually referred to as grain corn or industrial corn. After the kernels of corn are dried and sent for processing to various plants, it may be ground or crushed and you will find it in most of the processed foods that we eat. These are additives such dextrose, fructose, corn syrup, corn starch….corn oils, pet foods. The more recent use is for ethanol which is mixed with our fossil fuels in various percentages to power our vehicles. So those many fields of dried up looking corn are put to many uses other than feeding our livestock and pets.
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