One of my earliest memories of growing corn was driving tractor while picking rocks on my uncle’s farm. I was 6 years old and could barely push in the clutch. After starting me in granny gear and pointing me down the field, my only job was to drive straight and stay off the corn. But I ran over lots of corn. I thought I had caused the death of numerous seedlings that day but my cousin said not to worry. I don’t remember what happened when we reached the end of the field, but I do remember I was demoted quickly from tractor driver and promoted to rock picker.
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Joe Lauer
Joe Lauer is an expert on corn production, transgenic crops and cropping systems in the Midwest. He’s a professor of agronomy in the University of Wisconsin-College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, and member of the American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Society of America. Email jglauer@wisc.edu to reach him.
