Technology has changed the way modern farmers work the land. GPS-directed seedings and fertilization, computer tracking of feed and cattle growth, minute-by-minute crop and market reports assist todays farmers manage larger crops for greater profit and with less effort.
But, the best measure of soybean moisture is to walk into the field, grab a handful of beans, open the pods and inspect the beans. A strong thumbnail presses into the dicotyledon grain line easily separating it if too moist. Drier beans fight the thumbnail and end up crunched between teeth where their inner texture is measured.
It’s still the farmer standing in a hot summer field, crop in hand that best determines the day of first harvest.
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I was shooting a story on small farmers near Pahokee, FL, in the early 80s. A young family farmer was walking with me through his corn field when he stopped, stripped off an earn of corn and extracted a small worm, a corn borer, that would eat right thorough his field. While I watched, he crushed the worm between his fingers.
That’s when I realized the real difference between big and small farmers. This guy boiled it down to one man vs. one worm. And it was personal.
Comment by Ken Steinhoff 01.28.07 @ 10:47 amLeave a comment
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