There are so many kinds of corn. Broadly you have sweet corn, field corn, and popcorn. Sweet corn is really just a flour type field corn that has had the genes that convert sugars to starch messed up. Here I am growing a field of dent corn, which is a mix of genetics from so-called flint and flour corn. It has to do with the distribution and qualities of starch in the seed. Look it up if you are curious. Anyhow, dent corn is the most common kind of corn grown and there are a zillion kinds of it, used for animal feed, corn meal, corn flour, polenta, etc. Really versatile stuff. It is a grass that was domesticated in Meso-America, present day southern Mexico. An incredible staple food that loves the heat of Summer and is highly productive. What has tended to happen over the decades is dent corn has been bred for high input farming systems, requiring lots of fertilizer and plenty of water. So corn gets a bad rap environmentally, since so much pollution and soil erosion and crappy food comes from industrial, highly processed, commodity corn. But it doesn't have to be this way! I am showing a field of organic dent corn grown with very few inputs. No fertilizer this year as I did soil tests and it looked like I had enough in the field anyhow. Irrigated it once after seeding in the middle of May. Plenty of weeding needed, but now it is taking off and flowering and is of good stature. Starting to show signs of water stress. The field is uneven in part because this is a breeding trial. See the Dry Farming Institute. I'm partnering with folks at Oregon State University. They planted the field and collect data. So in a couple more months should have ears of Oaxacan Green Dent, which will be gorgeous. In the meantime I how you learn a bit about the importance of breeding for low input, low water demanding, crops. #dryfarming, #dentcorn, @dryfarminginstitute
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