Fourth of July Corn Felfies

Canada, U.S. Corn Growers Asked to Submit #CornFelfie Photos

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

According to an old farming adage, corn fields should be “knee-high by the 4^th of July.”  The saying was considered years ago to be a good measure to determine if a corn crop was doing well or not. But does that benchmark still hold true today?

Knee high nowadays would most likely be an indication that your corn crop isn’t fairing very well. But it also depends on when it was planted. For example, spring of 2014 was a late start for most farmers. The cool, wet spring weather prompted some farmers to adjust their cropping plans, including switching crop varieties.

Plant breeders have improved the genetics of corn to the point that 4^th of July corn should probably be about chest high or about four feet tall. Corn varieties have been developed to withstand harsher conditions, often allowing farmers to plant their crops earlier than before. Planting a crop early gives the crop, in this case corn, more time to grow. While the phrase has outlived its usefulness, it remains a popular saying.

Last year, Farms.com put out a call to farmers asking them to submit photos of themselves standing in their corn crop. This was done even before the felfie trend caught on. “Felfies” are farmer selfies, which are self-portrait pictures, taken with a hand-held camera or a camera phone. Farmers, let’s have a little fun this 4^th of July. Send in your #cornfelfie pictures and we will make a video with them.

How to participate:

• Tweet at @AmandaBrodhagen or use the popular #fromthefield hashtag
• Email: amanda.brodhagen@farms.com

Information to include:

• Location or region (i.e. state/province, county & country)
• Additional information (i.e. date of when it was planted, variety, number of acres etc.)

The video below is a collection of photos featuring the 2013 4^th of July corn submissions: