Corn Harvest photos
Mountaineer photographer Jon Serenius captured this image while riding in the far back of a dump truck during corn-cutting season in this undated photo, likely taken in the early 1990s.
CUTTING — A crew cuts corn for Gay Angel in a Bethel field in this September 1987 photo.
BALD CREEK — Corn shocks stand in fields along Bald Creek, with the Crabtree Bald in the background. This photo was dated 1973, long after most farmers had ceased shocking their corn.
Unloading silage from a dump truck into a ground silo.
Tommy Smathers pulls a silage wagon while chopping corn in a field along N.C. 215 in Bethel in 1977. Another tractor driver, unidentified, is pulling the corn chopper slightly behind Smathers and to his right.
CROPS — Dairy farmer David Noland of Fines Creek and Agricultural Extension dairy agent J.D. Brooks examine Noland’s corn crop as part of a variety test in 1987.
CONSTRUCTION — Building an upright silo for Charlie Moody, 1937. The Extension Service heavily promoted the use of silos. Here the round mold can be seen, in which the concrete would be poured for building an upright silo. In the 1930s, local banks would lend out forms to farmers for silo construction, as a joint effort to improve farm production and income.
T.L. Gwyn built this silo and beef cattle barn in 1940 in the Cruso community. The silo cost $332. Note the corn shocks in front of the silo, which would either be hand-fed into a chopper and then pickled in the silo, or be left to dry and fed as fodder.
SILO — In 1939, the D.C. Campbell silo was mentioned as one of the best in Haywood County, according to the Extension Service’s annual report. The photo shows Campbell standing in front of the silo which bears his initials and the year of construction (1938) at the top. The silo cost $725.
TRENCH — John Campbell trench silo, 1937. Like today, some farmers chose to construct in-ground silos to pickle and preserve their field corn crop for feeding livestock in winter. These men are filling the silo, using a hand-fed corn chopper powered by a tractor. Note the belt drive leading from the tractor to the chopper directly behind the silo. Another man is packing the silage in the trench manually.
As featured on
For dairy and beef cattle farm families, late summer and early fall is corn chopping time, f…
Post a comment as
Report
Watch this discussion.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.