# Dead/Unharvested Crops **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 18, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230 "2009-10-18T17:47:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/1 "2009-10-18T17:47:34Z")
Yesterday, while driving through rural Missouri, we noticed acres and acres of fields where the crops appeared dead and unharvested. Most of the fields were corn, with the stalks standing 6-7 feet tall, still bearing the ears of corn. Other fields consisted of very short shrubs, and might have been dried-up soybeans. At first, we thought the fields belonged to a farmer who, for one reason or another, was unable to harvest the crops, but after seeing this for several miles, I figured something else was going on. I thought about stopping and asking a random farmer (you know, the guy who is outstanding in his field), but never saw anyone close enough to the road to ask. Some of the fields had the agricultural signs denoting different chemicals or seeds or fertilizer, so it is possible that some of the fields were for product testing or other experimentation, but the sheer amount of acres that were unharvested were astounding. I sincerely hope this isn’t a case of the government paying farmers not to harvest their crops. Can any of you [del]dope farmers[/del] farmer dopers help me out here? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/2 "2009-10-18T17:59:23Z")
Ripe, but not yet harvested. Kind of a routine thing, actually. Amber waves of grain, and all that. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/3 "2009-10-18T18:01:05Z")
corn can be harvested as long as you can drive a corn picker through the fields. depends on its use it can be harvested way later. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/4 "2009-10-18T18:13:01Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > corn can be harvested as long as you can drive a corn picker through the fields. depends on its use it can be harvested way later. They may also be planning to [strip-graze the corn](http://www.ca.uky.edu/agc/pubs/id/id152/id152.pdf) with cattle. ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/5 "2009-10-18T18:13:29Z")
Feed corn needs to dry before harvesting, because drying it after harvesting would require a lot of effort and energy. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/6 "2009-10-18T18:54:31Z")
What you saw is 100% normal practice in MO. As \*\*Kevbo \*\*said, it’s feed corn for cattle, not sweet corn for people. Also called “dent corn”. To elaborate just a bit … They let it dry out and then harvest it once it’s good and stiff. That’s usually early Nov. Meanwhile it looks pretty well dead because it is. It’s called “dent corn” because after the kernals dry & shrink a bit, each one has a dimple, or dent, in the top of it. If you drive by after the harvest you’ll be able to stop & find a few cobs laying on the ground so you can see how dry & dented it gets. I tried eating one; darn hard & not real tasty. When I first moved here I had exactly your thought; bankrupt farmer or silly gov’t program. But no, they’re doing the normal thing. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/7 "2009-10-18T22:25:02Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > What you saw is 100% normal practice in MO. As \*\*Kevbo \*\*said, it’s feed corn for cattle, not sweet corn for people. Also called “dent corn”. Except for popcorn, which is a dent corn intended for human consumption. Around these parts where I live grows a substantial portion of the world’s annual popcorn production. The stalks are routinely left standing brown and withered in the field well into November, then harvested. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/8 "2009-10-18T22:32:32Z")
The other reason to dry in the field is that the chemical reaction that occurs when corn or soybeans are bin dried can be explosive. Literally. So the crop is dried in the field until the majority of the moisture is removed so it only dries in a bin for a short period. That is why you are seeing it with the beans too. ---
**Author:** ![Deereman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Deereman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deereman)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/9 "2009-10-18T22:47:58Z")
The others covered it well. You should know too, that corn can sit for quite a long time before being harvested. That can happen when the fields get extremely muddy (fall rain, etc), and the farmer can’t go in (or he’ll bury his equipment). Some guys end up waiting a good frost to stiffen up the ground. That’s not common practice (the quality of the corn does go down), but not rare either. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/10 "2009-10-18T23:36:01Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > The other reason to dry in the field is that the chemical reaction that occurs when corn or soybeans are bin dried can be explosive. Literally. It has always been a disappointment to me that drying field corn does not, at least occasionally, detonate in a field-wide corntastrophe. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/11 "2009-10-18T23:49:32Z")
I just did a road trip from Colorado to Pitt PA. My Wife was surprised to see this as well. I was more used to it as I was raised in central IL. Yep. Feed corn. I’m glad I happend across this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/12 "2009-10-18T23:55:29Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > If you drive by after the harvest you’ll be able to stop & find a few cobs laying on the ground … More than a few! Mechanical corn pickers do miss quite a bit of the ears of corn. Especially when harvested late, where weeks of wind & snow have bent over many of the stalks. That’s certainly true up here in Minnesota. We used to let our horses out into the cornfield after it had been mechanically picked. They would find lots of ears of corn, even pawing through the snow to get at ears they smelled under the snow. There were so many ears that they found that we had to limit this – only allow the horses into the picked cornfield for a couple of hours per day at first, and cut down on their grain feeding in the barn, because they got such a sudden feed increase from the fallen corn of that we feared the risk of them foundering. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/13 "2009-10-19T01:16:29Z")
I was driving home from the mall on this glorious October day, and 1/4 mile from my house there’s a road, a shortcut between cornfields. I had never seen the corn being picked by machine until this afternoon! ---
**Author:** ![Magicicada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c67d28/32.png) [@Magicicada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magicicada)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/14 "2009-10-19T01:26:57Z")
I don’t know what part of Missouri you drove through, but I’m in the southern portion of Illinois, and we’ve had a dismally wet fall, so most of the farmers haven’t been able to get into the fields. It really sucks, actually. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/15 "2009-10-19T01:30:32Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > More than a few! > Mechanical corn pickers do miss quite a bit of the ears of corn. Especially when harvested late, where weeks of wind & snow have bent over many of the stalks. This is called “lodging,” and it’s why you also don’t want to wait too long to harvest. The more lodging there is, the lower the yield, because a combine can’t harvest as efficiently. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/16 "2009-10-19T12:27:33Z")
As for the dead soybeans, they may have been a cover crop. Farmers don’t plant a sales crop on a field every year because it would wear out the nutrients in the soil. But even if they’re not planting something to harvest, they’ll usually plant a cover crop and then plow it under when they’re ready to plant another crop. The cover crop prevents erosion and weeds and can also replenish the soil. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/17 "2009-10-19T12:35:49Z")
Thank you all for the great answers! As to what part of Missouri we were in, it was east and slightly north of KC, in the Grain Valley/Oak Grove area. Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/18 "2009-10-19T12:50:16Z")
Here in Wisconsin the weather prevented many crops from maturing. Much corn currently has an undeveloped ear. It may look like there is something of use, but there isn’t. You definitely want the crops to dry as much as possible before harvest. The government does actually plant crops to fed the wildlife. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/19 "2009-10-19T21:33:03Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Farmers don’t plant a sales crop on a field every year because it would wear out the nutrients in the soil. They do out here in the Great Plains. But not the same crop year after year; they rotate the crops every few years so that different ones (using different nutrients) are planted. Corn, soybeans, oats, hay, etc. They do occasionally let a field rest, but generally by using it as pasture that year for their animals or a neighbors herd. Thus getting some use out of the field, and adding organic nutrients from the manure. ---
**Author:** ![Fetchund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Fetchund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fetchund)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2009, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230/20 "2009-10-20T01:14:20Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > The government does actually plant crops to fed the wildlife. Came in to mention that - some areas of corn will be left up as a deer-draw so hunters know where to find them when the season opens. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dead-unharvested-crops/514230.md?page=2)