This is Bancroft.
It’s a small Iowa town composed of a grocery store, a bank, a liquor store, hardware store,
office supply store, flower shop, hair salon, medical clinic, bed and breakfast, funeral
home, trailer manufacturer, whisky distillery, gym, baseball field, city pool, 9-hole golf
course, two gas stations, two restaurants, two feed suppliers, two car dealerships, 346
homes, 699 people, and that’s about it.
Bancroft more-or-less nestles into a single, one-by-one mile square, and it’s surrounded
by eight other one-by-one mile squares—fields full of corn and soybean.
Six squares down, there’s another town—Burt.
Six to the west, it’s Lone Rock, then six more and there’s Fenton.
This consistent human distribution is reflective of these towns’ common cause.
They’re farm towns—their economy is the fields that envelop them, it’s the crops
they grow, and so their spacing is dictated by the amount of people that these fields
that separate them can reasonably provide for financially.
974 of these squares combined represent Kossuth County.
Of those, a full 355 are dedicated to the cultivation of soybean, while even more, 475,
are used to grow corn.
Therefore, this county, as large as the country of Luxembourg, uses some 85% of its area for
the singular purpose of growing these two crops.
The reason why is because Kossuth County, and its neighbors, are powerhouses in the
world of agriculture–crucial food-production resources not only for Iowa, not only for
the United States, not only even just for North America, but for the entire world.
For a farmer living and working, say, here, a four mile drive outside of Bancroft on an
average-sized farm, the process of feeding the globe, supporting the American economy,
powering the local community, and providing for their own family starts anew every spring,
when they sit down at the kitchen table, flip to April in their calendar, and decide exactly
when, and exactly what they’re going to plant.
Now, of the 23,195,000 acres planted in Iowa in 2021, 23,000,000 acres were filled with
soybean or corn.
It’s a safe bet, in other words, that, come April, this farmer will be planting one of
these two major cash crops.
Deciding what to plant, however, is not simply an either/or proposition.
Considering that all this land has been planted with corn in years prior, and that events
in other corn producing regions of the world has this farmer feeling bullish on its immediate
prospects, it’s likely that they’ll pass on soybean and go with corn.
But that’s only the start: now the farmer has hundreds of viable seed hybrids to choose
from.
Selective breeding over millennia and genetic modification in recent decades, afterall,
are what transformed corn from this, to this–a crop packing enough energy to power combustion
engines and America’s meat industry alike.
They’re also what have allowed per-acre corn production to skyrocket over the past
century, as breeding for increased yield, disease resistance, and drought tolerance
have pushed bushel per acre yields to levels pre-war Americans could never have even imagined.
For this average Iowa farmer on this average Iowa farm, though, it’s not the past that
matters, but the future—and to ensure they’re making the most of the growing season, they
need to nail their seed selection.
Ninety-nine percent of corn grown in Iowa isn’t the type you eat fresh off the cob–it’s
field corn, or the type that goes on to make ethanol in other parts of Iowa, or feed livestock
in Wyoming, or sweeten drinks in Georgia.
And still, the options are endless when it comes to field corn seeds–some hold up better
in dry years, others in wet years; some produce stronger stalks, others produce larger ears;
some fare better when planted in untilled soils, others require only minimal fertilizer.
Ultimately though, informing which seed a farmer chooses largely comes down to one all-important
metric–average yield: the number of bushels each acre can produce.
So, to figure out what will make the farmer the most bushels, and therefore the most money,
they start here, with the Iowa Crop Improvement Association’s corn performance test.
Now, considering Bancroft’s less than 30 miles or 50 kilometers from the test site
in Corwith, that the towns sit in the same ICIA north district, and that they both occupy
the same soil region made up of “loamy Wisconsin glacial till,” it stands to reason that
what works in one spot will work in the other.
Grabbing the farmer’s eyes first then, are likely these Legacy and Dekalb seeds, which
in 2021—a record-setting year for statewide yields—performed well above the state average
of 205 bushels per acre.
Yield is the most important metric, but it’s not the only factor influencing our farmer’s
choice–the corn’s use, the seed’s price, the farmer’s past experiences, and brand
loyalty all inform that final decision.
Given that Dekalb’s hybrid performed so well in an environment so similar to Bancroft’s,
and given that Arndorfer Bros Seed, conveniently located right here in Bancroft, just so happens
to sell Dekalb seeds, all things being equal, it makes sense that this farmer bought the
Dekalb 52-99RIB, or something like it.
Or perhaps not, perhaps the farmer considered the weather outlook for the coming year and
went a different route.
You see, while billions of dollars a year are invested in the creation of these hybrid
seeds, and, in turn, billions a year are brought in by the crops these seeds produce, critical
junctures of the process revolve entirely around the farmers’ informed and fine-tuned
intuition.
2022, for example, is a La Niña year–a year where the winter’s been cold and damp,
and a year where cold snaps, above average moisture, and extreme weather events are bound
to continue through spring and summer.
Perhaps then, our farmer, considering the higher likelihood of above-average rainfall
and potential flooding, went with a hybrid seed better suited for damp conditions.
Such weather not only informs what is planted, but when it’s planted, too.
Using Iowa State extension estimations, and assuming our farmer is aiming for maximum
yield on their land, seeds for 395 acres will cost $49,000, while running planting machinery
another $4,500.
If the farmer plants too early and loses the crop to a late frost they’re effectively
out $55,000.
Seeds selected, weather considered, and risk accounted for, sometime during the last week
of April and the first of May our farmer attaches their 16-row planter onto a tractor, sets
the attachment’s row width and seed depth, fills the fertilizer hopper, and sets out
onto the field.
For a few days, machinery that’s valued in the mid six figures will get its only use
of the year.
In the coming weeks, as spring gives way to summer, the corn stalks will begin to bolt
skyward, and the work will continue.
A poor planting strategy can ruin a farmer's season, but that doesn’t mean a perfect
strategy will result in maximum yield, either.
Throughout the growing season–from the end of spring to the beginning of fall–much
can go wrong, and much hangs on the farmer’s ability to adapt.
While no farmer, Iowan or otherwise, can control the weather, generations of agricultural Americans
have done their best to exert at least some agency over the environment–in Iowa, the
most obvious sign of this pursuit is the ever-present but easy-to-overlook drainage ditch.
While humble in form, these cuts into the countryside are critical, and our farmer just
northwest of Bancroft knows it.
Take Mud Creek, for example.
For Bancroft golfers on hole two, it’s a likely landing spot for an errant drive.
For travelers leaving Bancroft on highway 169, it offers a brief change of scenery.
For our farmer though, Mud Creek serves as insurance.
You see, while the Western US cut ditches and built dams to grow crops in the desert,
Iowans cut ditches to grow crops in wetlands.
In Iowa it’s not the lack of rain that makes farming hard, but its abundance.
For our farmer, Mud Creek is the lowest point on the property, and while it may cut slightly
into their acreage, the creek, along with subterranean tiles and pipes, drain excess
rainfall from the field and insulates the property from crop-killing stagnant water.
Without proper drainage, in a worst case scenario, sprouting seeds drown, topsoil runs off, and
mud keeps the farmer from even inspecting the damage.
In the best case scenario, without drainage tiles running below their field, a farmer’s
yields will be hampered when the first rainstorm washes away the crop’s fertilizer and along
with it, the farmer’s yield.
Beyond keeping excess water away from the growing crop, the farmer must also make sure
that the plant has easy access to needed nutrients to ensure quality yields.
Beginning when planted with a starter fertilizer, then reapplied throughout the summer depending
on the seed and soil conditions, a mix of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are applied
to maximize the plant’s growth.
In such ideal growing conditions though, corn stalks aren’t the only thing growing on
the farmer’s field.
Along with proactively applying nutrients as the crop matures, the farmer also monitors
the arrival and spread of weeds and pests.
Neither fertilizers nor pesticides are cheap.
According to Iowa State’s estimated costs, at a per acre rate, nitrogen is more expensive
than the seeds it supports, while applying pesticides requires additional machine hours
or employing a pilot to spread the product from above.
And yet, the farmer wouldn’t dare cut corners at this stage—as these products are some
of modern science’s most successful forays into standardizing, overriding, and protecting
against nature’s inherent chaos.
And so, our farmer further extends themself financially as the corn stalks extend themselves
vertically.
With the summer behind it and fall weather setting in, it’s finally time for our farm,
and all the farms of Iowa, to begin capitalizing on all their work.
But exactly when this happens is not down to the farmers, it’s down to the weather.
This massive industry collectively waits in the wings for the world to deliver a long
enough stretch of dry days to allow the harvest to begin.
And this doesn’t always come easy.
In 2018, for example, Kossuth County received more than double its average precipitation
at the start of fall which made it difficult to get the crop to its necessary level of
dryness, and impossible to get large farm equipment into the fields without getting
stuck in the mud.
This slowed down the harvest considerably and the county saw its worst corn yields since
2014.
Even a day of weather months before can sway the success of the harvest.
In 2020, Iowa suffered an extremely severe August derecho storm.
The high winds it brought damaged the crop, pushing stalks of corn into a severe lean.
This leaning crop condition, referred to as lodged corn, makes it difficult for combine
harvesters to capture and process all of the plant, leading to lower yields.
Therefore, immediately after the storm, local and regional agriculture organizations started
publishing information on how to adapt standard operating procedures to this widespread damage.
Many farmers took their advice to buy a special attachment for their combine heads which helps
prop up lodged corn.
Iowa State’s Integrated Crop Management Program also recommended harvesting from the
direction to which the crop is leaning, lowering the combine head more than typical, and operating
at a lower speed.
They even added a suggestion that farmers call a dedicated, 24/7 stress hotline if needed—acknowledging
the degree of mental and emotional impact a less-than-stellar harvest can have on farmers.
Given the tiny margins in the farming industry, the difference between an upright and leaning
crop can mean the difference between a profitable and unprofitable year given its impact on
yields.
But regardless of field conditions, the combine harvester’s job is the same—it's to take
in the crop and process it down into the grain by itself.
Now, the combine harvester is an incredibly influential piece of machinery.
It is single-handedly responsible for much of the progress made in food supply and cost
over the past century.
What was once an exceedingly manual process, involving a huge swath of laborers picking
and processing the crop primarily by hand, now occurs in a matter of seconds with a single
human operator.
The combine’s head orients to a certain height above the ground using a sensor, and
the entire machine auto-steers using another sensor that follows the line of corn.
Meanwhile, the snouts feed the crop to a pair of downward spinning rollers that pull the
plant through a narrow gap where the ears of corn, given their wider shape, get caught
and pulled inwards by gathering chains.
Then, the ears are pulled in further by augers to the feed house, and fed through a cylinder
that throws the plant back into a series of mechanical processes that separate the grain
from the chuff—the unusable part—and by the end a series of augers and paddles pull
the corn kernels themselves up into the combine’s tank.
As the combine harvests, a tractor with a grain cart pulls alongside it and the combine
lets out its arm and delivers grain into the cart.
Once full, the tractor drives away, while the combine continues harvesting, and heads
to a waiting semi-truck pulling a far larger grain trailer, in which it deposits its load.
This process repeats itself until the trailer is full, at which point the semi drives the
couple miles into Bancroft.
Now, a common landmark across nearly all of Iowa’s small farming towns is each community’s
grain elevator.
These are absolutely critical pieces of infrastructure for the region’s economy.
Bancroft’s, indicatively, is operated by the regional farmers coop, State-Line Cooperative.
Upon arrival, a probe is placed into the grain trailer to take a sample of the corn.
That sample is inspected and tested for its moisture content—it has to be below 15%
to assure mold won’t grow during storage, which is especially important since it’ll
be mixed in with other farmers’ crop.
Simultaneously, the truck is weighed to determine how much corn is being delivered.
Then, it pulls forward and a door beneath the trailer opens to pour the grain through
a grate below.
Finally, a bucket belt carries the grain to the very top of the elevator where it gets
deposited into the storage bin.
Now, the farmers have two primary choices for what happens next.
They could sell their crop immediately to the coop, in which case they get paid based
on corn’s current market rate.
However, during the harvest season, market rates for the crop often dip as it gets flooded
with supply, especially recently given a widespread shortage of grain storage capacity.
Therefore, if farmers can store the corn, they often do.
Bancroft’s grain elevator charges 5 cents per month per bushel for the first three months,
then 4 cents per bushel per month after that, but this cost is typically well worth it.
During 2021’s harvest season, for example, market prices were about $5.50 per bushel,
but by Spring 2022 they were up to $7.50.
This grain market is a global one, and so ebbs and flows in supply and demand around
the world influence how many trucks roll through Bancroft’s streets to pick up a load from
their grain elevator on a given day.
Once that day does come, though, if it's not going to a nearby processing facility to be
turned into livestock feed or ethanol, chances are good that a truck in Bancroft is starting
a trip three-hours east to La Crosse, Wisconsin.
There, it unloads at a small grain elevator on the banks of the Mississippi River run
by Cargill—one of the largest companies in the world which, among other food-related
functions, holds about 25% of the US’ grain export market.
Once enough product is aggregated, it’s loaded into a series of barges which are then
lashed together and propelled forward by a tug boat.
The tug orients the barges south and then begins a massive, 15-day journey through 19
locks and 1,500 miles or 2,400 kilometers of river.
This transportation method is propped up by the fact that grain is not a very time-sensitive
product—in its dry form it's hardly perishable and given the huge quantities shipped simultaneously,
few ever have a pressing need for it.
Therefore, this exceptionally slow system of barge transport works fine, and it's certainly
the most competitive in terms of cost.
Shipping a ton of grain all the way from St Louis to New Orleans typically costs less
than $20 on a Mississippi River barge—far less than by truck or rail.
In fact, a major reason why America’s corn belt is such a competitive agricultural region
is its access to this low-cost means of transportation via the Mississippi River.
Other growing areas of the world, confined to high-cost truck or rail transport, just
can’t compete against America’s industry.
The destination for all these barges is New Orleans.
Its prominence as a city has always been and still is linked to its position at the end
of America’s most important navigable river.
There, the barge from La Crosse arrives at Cargill’s massive New Orleans facility,
where the grain enters yet another elevator.
Aggregated with the annual output of countless other farms, the corn is next loaded onto
a large, ocean-going bulk-carrier ship.
And then finally, the bulk-carrier navigates through the final twists and turns of the
Mississippi River, enters the Gulf of Mexico, and begins a weeks-long journey to wherever
the corn market’s demand dictates.
One reason I was excited to cover this topic is because I knew I could get all sorts of
specular footage of the corn-fields of Iowa from our stock-footage provider, Storyblocks.
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