This summer I have had the opportunity to be a summer intern at WYXY Classic 99.1. That means living in Champaign throughout the summer, and not to say that I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed every single second of it, but this summer I have really missed home.
What have I missed the most about not being at home this summer? When I think of being home in Indiana during the summer, I think of corn above my head on both sides of the county roads and walking pigs out in the yard and the best week of the summer, the county fair.
When people say Indiana is nothing but cornfields, I have to say I agree and I wouldn’t want it to be any other way. Growing up on a two thousand acre grain farm is a lifestyle that I have grown to love, appreciate and cherish. From the time I have been very young to where I am today.
I specifically can remember a time in the summer when my sister and I were very young; we pulled two corn stocks from the field next to our house and used them as swords against one another. Jenna who was two years younger and about three years old at the time, kicked my butt and knocked me straight on the ground; she has been beating me at pretty much everything ever since!
Another time, when I was about ten years old, I absolutely loved to drive the four-wheeler around in the yard. Well a ten-year-old on a four-wheeler can be scary thought especially if anyone has ever driven with me before. It was in early July and it was dark and I was still out riding the four-wheeler. I lost control of the wheel and ended up knocking out a few rows of corn in dad’s field. To say dad was just a little mad at me would be an understatement. I guess at ten-years-old I didn’t realize necessarily how much a bag of seed cost and how much money it took to plant a high-yielding field of corn until I was way older.
Even heading to the county fairs in the summer, yes I remember those early morning trips loading the pigs and riding with Jenna and dad in the dually, but on those early peaceful mornings into the Boone County Fairgrounds throughout the week of the fair, what I remembered most was driving on county roads, with the windows rolled down listening to country music and being surrounded by tall rows of corn on both sides of me.
Once I got to college, learning about corn seemed to become even more important to me. I learned so much all within my freshman year. I was able to talk with my dad about important topics such as GMOs, drought stress, cost of production, how the markets affect corn production, disease and pest control and probably most importantly, cover crops. All of these topics have allowed me to understand how to produce a high-yielding and high quality corn product.
Corn is not only a driving force for the world’s food production, but it has been a large part of who I am and how I’ve grown up. When I think of home, I miss watching those Indiana sunsets and the sun set just beneath the fields of corn. It is just a small piece of home that will always stay with me wherever I go. Watching the corn pop up in rows.
The CHANCE to Communicate Agriculture 