Derek Young, of Wallingsford, Iowa, is accustomed to eating Halloween cookies during harvest. This year, for the first time in his life, he was eating Christmas cookies.
A wet autumn led to a long harvest this year: poor conditions for an efficient harvest, but, as it turned out, a good “worst-case” scenario for testing the speed of new cob harvesting equipment.
Now that the harvest is over, Young had a few minutes to talk with me about how progress went testing prototypes for corn cob harvesting.
He said his work this season generated some interest among other farmers in the area.
“Early on, a fair amount of people were driving by, checking it out,” he said.
Q: I know that one of the main concerns from farmers is that cob harvesting will slow down their harvest. Did you find this to be the case this year?
A: “No, I didn’t. You know, there’s a learning curve with a lot of new equipment. I thought it was going to be a lot worse than what it was.”
Young was using Vermeer equipment (pictured here) to harvest the cobs in his field this year. He said representatives from Vermeer were very helpful in making sure everything ran smoothly.
“As long as the partners you’re working with truly are partners, you’re going to be in good shape.”
Q: In order to secure a steady supply of cobs, what issues does POET need to educate the farm community about to make them comfortable adding this to their operation?
A: “Of course a big question is ‘What are we going to get (price for cobs)?’ … I think lot of growers, if they see it brings a lot of value to their operation, I think they’re going to be on board.”
Young said one of the main concerns is still the speed of harvest.
“It can’t be seen as something that’s going to seriously hamper harvest, especially coming off a year like this.”
He said it’s also important that POET’s efforts address a broad cross-section of the agricultural community: large and small operations alike.
“I think a lot of people (smaller operations) wonder where they might fit into this. It can’t be seen as something for the big guys.”
Q: How do farmers feel about taking some stover off the ground?
A: “There are some people out there that really think ‘Oh, you’re going to be taking a lot off the soil.”
Young said he heard that opinion occasionally around town. Personally, though, he’s seen improvements in farming over the years that have added a lot of material to fields, and he doesn’t think it will be an issue of serious concern.
“I think about how there’s so much more stover and residue than there was years ago.”
Q: How difficult will it be to promote this effort to farmers nationwide?
A: Young thought that farmers are eager to help the ethanol industry and want to be involved in both grain-based and cellulosic ethanol.
“We need to keep a viable ethanol industry going or there isn’t a corn industry,” he said.
