Sweetcorn harvest
It's something I admit to having a great knowledge deficit about - how do veggies get to the public?? Well, it's been a great learning curve for us both! They are almost done with the season, he's been out in the fields since late July. Today he said they are down to the last 1400 acres under contract, and should be done about this Friday or Saturday. They work 12 hour shifts...in theory! Todd is on days (they run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week). He drives the 15 minutes to the plant in Waseca, MN. They get transported via van to the field that is being harvested. They work until the night shift gets there - so if the field is 1 hour away, the night shift gets there at 6pm, then they have 1 hour transport back to the plant. So that 12 hour shift is actually a 14 hour shift (they do get paid from the time they get to the plant in the morning, and returned there at night). Then he drives home.  And this is 7 days a week! He took 3 days off for Lisa's wedding, and 2 days off to go duck and goose hunting on opener weekend. There is a "picker" - it's like a combine specially made to pick ear corn. Then it gets moved via a belt from the picker's hopper to "dump carts". This is a cart specially made that side dumps the corn into the corn trucks and pulled by a big tractor, who in turn drive the corn to the plant. Todd drives a tractor and dump cart. If the field and weather are good, the trucks will come out in the field - otherwise they need to sit at the edge by the road. Then Todd and his dump cart have to really work and relay the corn from wherever in the field the picker is when it fills it's hopper, and then run it out to the trucks. But most often they (dump carts) are extra storage - holding corn as the picker runs and fills, until a truck shows up to haul it away. They are rented tractors, and have a dedicated maintenance crew. The pickers/dump carts also have maint. crews. They have fuel trucks that drive around and fuel all the equipment. The trucks and their drivers are individual owners who are hired on for the season. Because they run 24/7, the plant has periodic mandatory shutdowns for cleaning. So whenever that happens, the trucks are backed up waiting to unload, so in turn Todd and his dump cart and the pickers are sitting out in their field waiting for trucks....so they do "maintenance"...Todd dreads this, as he comes home just a grease ball...  There actually are designated maint people, and drivers are supposed to just be "go-fers"...but Todd actually is a mechanic by trade (just chooses not to do it for a living), so he feels bad if he were to just sit there, so he helps. He also figures it makes him a more valuable employee, and more likely to get rehired next year. The 1st year the wages are ok, but after that you get a nice raise  I met him in his field Sunday as I was driving home from our pack hike - and got some pictures! It was almost sunset, so they are kind of dark.  Kind of wrong sun angle - but I got the picker (right) unloading into the dump cart, and a truck on the left - all in one picture! The picker and the dump cart both had emptied into the truck. The dump cart rig and the picker leaving to pick more corn:  Todd parked his rig and was coming over to say hi to me and Chewie  (yep, he's skinny and was losing his pants....lol)  The rig -  Back to work -  and away he goes....  Todd plans on job sharing next year - says he's too old to keep those hours again! (Most of the guys are in their 60's and older than him..lol) His friend who also worked there plan to share hours - each will work 4 days one week, 3 days the next - making 1 FT employee. Both are super mechanical and dependable, so they already have approval. And they will start earlier in the summer - and work pea pack too...and I will get to learn a new veggie! |
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| That was really interesting Dawn. I see them out in the fields and never really think about them. I agree with Todd 3/4 days a week is more then enough. Chuck works in the "test" department and "Quality Control" Department of a company who make DeIcers/Loaders/Snakes for Airplanes...because the machines are so big, he works outside most days in the hot Florida weather. He has to crawl all over these machines and he says your stomach can get quizzy going up in the bucket. He works 12 hr days as well and drives an hour and a half one way....jobs are tough to find. |
| Cool. So Todd's basically been working 14 hour days 7 days a week since July? I feel EXTRAORDINARILY lazy in comparison...  |
Baba wrote: Cool. So Todd's basically been working 14 hour days 7 days a week since July? I feel EXTRAORDINARILY lazy in comparison... Yep - with 5 days off.  I feel lazy too - except I work full time 12 hour shifts and have been getting up at 5:20am on the days I work and doing all the chores and on my days off I at least get to sleep in a BIT. And then I do them all over again in the evening - on the days I work that's in the dark again at 7:30 pm...then finally get supper for us! The crock pot has been a lifesaver. And our kids have been stopping in on the days we both work to potty the dogs....thankfully they all 3 live 5 miles or less away, but they have busy lives too! Thank goodness this is seasonal! |
got sheep wrote: I feel lazy too - Yeah, normally when I think of "laziness", the image of you pops into my head!  |
Baba wrote: got sheep wrote: I feel lazy too - Yeah, normally when I think of "laziness", the image of you pops into my head! Well, I at least am getting more sleep! ...if I get to bed early...I'm just naturally a night owl and it kills me to go to bed before 10:30  |
| I will never again be able to open a package of Birds Eye Sweet Corn without thinking of Todd (maybe he even had a hand in producing my package)!! Most americans have no clue how their food gets on the table. I'm glad you took pictures and told the story. Kathie |
| Wow! Thanks for the story. That's really interesting to know how the system works. That's a lot of work and long days, for both of you! Great pictures at sunset. Cindy |
| I'm kind of geeky , so I find it interesting! I didn't mention - they have crews like this spread out all over, in fields. While Todd's crew is in one area, I know there are at least 2 other different ones out there too doing the same thing at the same time in different fields, different parts of the state and even have crews in WI. And Todd's fun toy (his tractor) is a dually on all 4 wheels (8 tires), has a hinged body and runs on hydraulics. It's insanely expensive too - over $80,000 just for the tractor he drives! He was pretty nervous at 1st, afraid he'd wreck something. Their worst accident was a fire on the picker - the plant was down for maint, so the driver of the picker decided to do some welding repair and caught it on fire! . He was grounded on grunt duty at the plant for awhile.They also almost lost a truck in a rollover along a drainage ditch (the tall grass was deceptive). And they hooked the picker's arm (see the 1st picture) that unloads corn, on the cart going opposite directions during an unload and twisted it all up on the night shift. They had to drive the picker back to the shop to repair it - major loss of time and $$. Crazy stuff! |
| Very interesting Dawn, you did a good job explaining it all. During the depression era and at other times my father and his brother traveled around the country picking corn and doing whatever else they could to make some money. Long days for them too and hard work. It was always interesting to hear him tell stories about that time. Poor guy was still working in the woods cutting timber until around 70 and that was after he got out of farming, used to do both. |
| I grew up in rural Iowa, so I'm well more than well aware of what goes on in the fields. I remember while in school, it was common for some classmates to be out for a week or two in the fall because they were working the fields; many driving tractors and combines as early as 12 or 13!!! I have a world of respect for those who choose to eek out a living doing this. It must be one of the most noble jobs in the world. Thanks to Todd, all those who do this and the families who support them. Vance |
| We are familiar with the "normal" crops of (field)corn and (soy)beans, oats and hay - however the specialty equipment and processing for the human vegetable crop of sweet corn is a whole new bag of things to learn! I too grew up on a farm, was in 4-H and FFA and all that good stuff |
| We found this very interesting. John has a question though----- When is the corn husked and shelled? At the Plant?? Prior to the dump? John is jealous of Todd's BIG GREEN TRACTOR!  |
Abuckie wrote: We found this very interesting. John has a question though----- When is the corn husked and shelled? At the Plant?? Prior to the dump? John is jealous of Todd's BIG GREEN TRACTOR! Lucky I saw this - just as Todd was going to bed This is his answer: Ideally it happens in the plant, although now with our drought it is getting so dry that in the process of going through the picker and into the dump cart it is losing a lot of the husks. He is seeing a lot more "bare" cobs coming through. In the plant, the 1st step on the conveyor is it gets husked, then goes through the "cutter" - that cuts the kernels off the cob. This plant does all frozen corn - no canning. They do the frozen stuff going to stores, but they also ship it out frozen in big totes where it goes to one of the canning plants. That makes canned corn, also the stuff in products like TV dinners, Dinty Moore beef stew, salsa, etc. Todd likes the tractor too - his big toy!  |
| Question: is this corn going to end up as cob-ettes, or niblets??? |
Paula O. wrote: Question: is this corn going to end up as cob-ettes, or niblets??? I know this one! The better corn (earlier in the season) was good enough to be frozen as ears of corn on the cob. All the stuff he has done since the freeze (early September) has been cutter corn - gets a trip through the cutter and is kernel corn. I had some of it - it was really ripe, but still tasted wonderful. I cut it off the cob and froze it! |
| Thank you for your interesting explanation of how your husband works the corn fields. In today's world people don't realize the long days and hard work that go with a manual labor job. Well done!!! My husband was a welder for 25 yrs, making huge die-cutting machines for bigger production factories. He now works on production line in a soap factory.  Kudos to all in manual labor!!! |
| Loved the story! The pic of Todd pulling up his pants reminded me of my Dad when I was little and he was farming. Memories..... |
Las Vegas Sheepie Lover wrote: Loved the story! The pic of Todd pulling up his pants reminded me of my Dad when I was little and he was farming. Memories..... That field had sand burrs - so the combo of them always falling down and the sand burrs in them resulted in them ending up in the garbage when he got home! |
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