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Cornstalks are sometimes baled as fodder for cattle, but mostly they're left on the field. The only part we bring in is the kernels themselves. A generation ago the fields were promptly plowed in the winter, disced in the spring, and in general compacted and much abused with fossil fuel driven vehicles. As we've gotten smarter and oil has gotten dearer farmers have gone to low till/no till methods, trying to limit themselves to one pass of prepping, one of planting, and one of harvesting. Reality dictates this to really be four or five passes, but its a dramatic drop from the old days when a dozen passes were the norm.
I would love to think that the situation has changed, because removal of the stalks is exactly why corn is almost as fertilizer-intensive as cotton. Whereabouts is this happening? paul spencer
I'm not talking silage here - post harvest they do sometimes bale the stalks that are left on the field. They're brown and dry at that point, unlike the green cut silage which is produced by, curiously enough, a silage chopper :-)
The fields do end up 5" high - the entire stalk is clipped off by the corn head on the combine, run through the machine to remove the ears, and then the ears are "shelled" - corn kernels go one way, cobs go out the back of the machine along with the stalks.
Does that help?
Actually, the cornstalks should be reintroduced to the soil in order to maintain tilth and soil micro-organisms. Have epistemological model of Complex Information environments. Will Travel.
Last time I was around the process, the newer fiberglass silos showed you which farmer was in hock to his ear lobes; the old steel ones belonged to the farmer who still actually owned the farm. The feedlots used to be just for 'graining' (finishing for market) the beef. Apparently, things have changed. paul spencer
On-farm meat production that is not marketed direct-to-consumer cannot compete against confinement operations. Not so much on price, tho' there is that too, but more on the quantity of meat being shipped and the shipping schedule. As grocery stores moved to a Just-in-Time stocking method they demand specific amounts of meat at specific times with a short sales cycle to keep the capital tied-up in inventory at a minimum. A on-farm operation markets low volume and yearly (cows) or about every 4 months (hogs.) Not enough product at too long intervals.
Grocery store chains ensure their Just-in-Time supply by forward contracting with IBP, usually. (IBP/Tyson purveys to ~40% of the total meat market in the US.) This locks-out the on-farm production from any given area, such as Iowa, as the farm-cycles in a given area coincide. IBP, because they operate nationally, and internationally, is able to 'smooth' the production cycle. As a kicker, the on-farm operation has to sell when the critters are ready for market to clear the area for the next go-round. That means they are always selling when supply is high, from their given area, and price low due to the injection of supply. IBP sells daily and thus captures high prices when supply is low to ride them over the low-price patches.
One side affect is IBP is effectively compounding their ROI daily (!) allowing them tremendous financial advantages.
The above is why I wrote "silage is irrelevant" in my previous post. It doesn't matter what you feed the moo-moos and oink-oinks. Unless the meat is marketed direct to the consumer you can't sell the critters profitably over the long haul. Have epistemological model of Complex Information environments. Will Travel.
Funny thing is that our 'kids' (35 and 32) rather dislike our beef, because it tastes 'gamey' to them. To my wife and I, it tastes like the beef that we used to get before we had chilluns - in other words, the good stuff.
It must be because we live in the Pacific NW, which doesn't have much of a factory meat-production industry, that this is news to me. I knew that it existed, but I had no idea that it was ubiquitous. paul spencer
Don't feel so RvW, I remember when the Kent Valley was mostly dairy farms! :-(
(LOL) Have epistemological model of Complex Information environments. Will Travel.
