why let the crops die?

this may be a stupid question but i dont know anything about this but it has been bothering me.

there are a lot of corn and bean crops around here. not million acre farms but they are all over. there will be a few acre patch of corn or beans and then some regular houses and # and then maybe another crop.

all the crops around here are dead. well everything except the pumpkins. those have been harvested.

the corn and the beans though are a different story.
all the crops of the beans and corn around here have died. i pass several of them every day and they definitely were not harvested.

what is the reason for this?

a reply to: TinySickTears
What area are you in?
Who owns those farms?
Are the owners currently resident?
What current and local market is available for the crops?

a reply to: TinySickTears

I don't know about around there, but here in Michigan I think any corn still in the ground now is used by the farmers, once they harvest it, for feed for animals.

originally posted by: DISRAELI
a reply to: TinySickTears
What area are you in?
Who owns those farms?
Are the owners currently resident?
What current and local market is available for the crops?

northeast ohio
local farmers i suppose. like the pumpkin one has a stand a mile down the road from it
it looks like the owners usually live on the farm or right next to it

as far as local markets just the usual chain grocers and several produce stands and farmers markets.

i dont get how any of that matters though.

i mean why grow a crop to let it die? clearly these are farms and clearly the crops are not accidental.

definitely dead though.

originally posted by: RazorV66
a reply to: TinySickTears

I don't know about around there, but here in Michigan I think any corn still in the ground now is used by the farmers, once they harvest it, for feed for animals.

that was the only thing i could come up with. an animal feed but i know jack # about farming so it kind of made sense and kind of didnt.

my wife said the beans are soy but i dont know. definitely not green beans.

they use soy beans for animal feed?

my other thought was some sort of soy based product for the beans but it still does not make sense in my stupid head to let the crops die

a reply to: TinySickTears
Ask one of the farmers?
Start chatting to someone drinking in one of the local bars?
See also the post which followed mine.
My questions might have unearthed reasons why a crop was being neglected- e.g. collapse of markets or abandonment of farms. Local conditions.

originally posted by: TinySickTears

originally posted by: RazorV66
a reply to: TinySickTears

I don't know about around there, but here in Michigan I think any corn still in the ground now is used by the farmers, once they harvest it, for feed for animals.

that was the only thing i could come up with. an animal feed but i know jack # about farming so it kind of made sense and kind of didnt.

my wife said the beans are soy but i dont know. definitely not green beans.

they use soy beans for animal feed?

my other thought was some sort of soy based product for the beans but it still does not make sense in my stupid head to let the crops die

I don't know about the soy but the corn is used for feed for sure.

a reply to: TinySickTears


Maybe they're letting the fields go fallow, and letting the dying plants replenish the soil?

a reply to: TinySickTears


Here is a link that may help.

agricultureproud.com...
When you see a small patch of corn left in a large field its more than likely left there for the deer/turkey.
I have been driving by the same fields and farms for going on 18 years and it is like the article states it is about moisture. To much moisture when crop is put into storage can cause mold on the crop.


up:

a reply to: TinySickTears

They're not dead, they're drying.

Grain crops like corn, soybeans, wheat, barley, sorghum and others are harvested when ripened and for those plants, ripening means they have dried down and their green tissue has turned brown. Since these crops have a long storage life, they must be low in moisture in order to be held in large grain bins without going moldy. They have to be dry in order to have any shelf life for future use in a food or feed product.

Link

What you're probably seeing is dent corn, which is used for fuel and livestock and plastics, etc. Sweet corn is harvested sooner if I remember correctly.

a reply to: TinySickTears

all the crops of the beans and corn around here have died. i pass several of them every day and they definitely were not harvested.

People get lazy. I've been guilty of it myself.

That said, anything planted in spring/early summer will have already died since it's fall, unless it was planted July-ish. Beans and corn are not cool weather crops, and the last planting date is around the first of August (here) to harvest before frost.

Sounds like either simply neglect, or they're letting it dry on the stalk/vine.

originally posted by: underwerks
a reply to: TinySickTears

They're not dead, they're drying.

Grain crops like corn, soybeans, wheat, barley, sorghum and others are harvested when ripened and for those plants, ripening means they have dried down and their green tissue has turned brown. Since these crops have a long storage life, they must be low in moisture in order to be held in large grain bins without going moldy. They have to be dry in order to have any shelf life for future use in a food or feed product.

Link

What you're probably seeing is dent corn, which is used for fuel and livestock and plastics, etc. Sweet corn is harvested sooner if I remember correctly.

thanks man.
makes sense

i didnt think laziness cause these are different plots of land on different roads miles around here. theyre just all dead. well not dead. drying.

awesome.

it was bothering me.
ats for the win

a reply to: TinySickTears

Maybe something like this?

Farm Program Pays $1.3 Billion to People Who Don't Farm

ven though Donald R. Matthews put his sprawling new residence in the heart of rice country, he is no farmer. He is a 67-year-old asphalt contractor who wanted to build a dream house for his wife of 40 years.

Yet under a federal agriculture program approved by Congress, his 18-acre suburban lot receives about $1,300 in annual "direct payments," because years ago the land was used to grow rice.

Matthews is not alone. Nationwide, the federal government has paid at least $1.3 billion in subsidies for rice and other crops since 2000 to individuals who do no farming at all, according to an analysis of government records by The Washington Post.

a reply to: loam

no. nothing at all like that

not growing # is not at all the same as growing # and letting it die

They could also just be 'farmed' to quailfy as a farm and to get the tax advanage therein but are simply family homes.

a reply to: TinySickTears

What appears dead to You, Is ripe for the particular harvest ie soy right now in Ohio. They're harvested when the tops are dead or dying, but they can't be harvested wet so they may be waiting.

They're ma y different processes etc...

originally posted by: TinySickTears
a reply to: loam

no. nothing at all like that

not growing # is not at all the same as growing # and letting it die

Unless you want to qualify for the subsidy in succeeding years.



And then there is this as another possible explanation:

Introducing Farm-Level Loss Into the Food Waste Discussion

The 2016 ReFED (Rethink Food Waste through Economics and Data) report estimates that 20.2 billion pounds of produce never reaches the supply chain.

...

From the growers’ perspective, there comes a point in the season when it is no longer economically feasible to harvest the crop. Vegetable crops are harvested from one to a few times, depending on the crop. As the season progresses, the price drops dramatically. At the same time, the plants age, harvest traffic can damage the plants, disease can set in, and it becomes harder to find marketable quality. Harvest costs like labor, sorting, packing, and packaging stay the same or start to increase. When the economics dictate, the grower calls off the harvest, regardless of what’s left.

Silly question , but I have yet to see an answer.
Are there still ears of corn on the stalks and beans on the vines ?
Usually beans and corn only produce once a season . Then they die and have to be replanted next season
Harvest time is about 3 months after planting and the planting time depends on the type.
If the corn or beans were picked by hand , it is possible what you are seeing are the "bad" ones left on the vines or stalks.
Hope this helps

a reply to: Gothmog

Usually beans and corn only produce once a season

Corn produces once. Beans and peas produce several times throughout the season as long as continuously harvested/picked.

a reply to: underwerks

Yep.

It's like no one harvests green wheat. You have to wait until it turns gold and heads bend over. Corn and soy are the same. There is a fine line between ready to be cut and too dry.

Wheat harvest typically goes from green to ready overnight and all of the crop has to be cut very quickly. Farmers will work from dawn until after dark for a week to 10 days or slightly more, but fall harvest involves several different crops and can drag on for over a month. It's less hurried though.