Rural Heritage's video: Checked Corn with Draft Animal Power

Joe visits a group of southern Iowa teamsters who are experimenting with the technique of growing checked corn and utilizing their draft animals for the power. Checked corn system involves planting in a grid in order to be able to cultivate in two perpendicular directions. This allows more effective control of weeds. The modern process involves applying herbicides to the fields until the corn is tall enough to create a canopy. Checked planting is better for the environment, less costly and allows a farmer more time utilizing draft animal power. The disadvantage is a loss in productivity. Paul Bishop gives us a detailed explanation of the process and the vintage John Deere planter he is using to plant the corn. He has to make some adaptations to the planter to accommodate today's smaller seeds. We watch as they run the wire which has knots on it that trip the planter. They are planting at 40" on center with 4 seeds per hill. This results in about 14,000 plants/acre. Modern planting is between 26,000-36,000 plants/acre). We watch Paul and his team of Percherons accompanied by two Percheron foals tied alongside as they plant the corn. Joe returns to the fields when the corn is being cultivated by teams of mules, Belgians and Percherons. During his final visit, Joe goes films the hand picking of the corn that is tossed into the horse drawn vintage wagon. One of the horses is then hooked up to a rotary Burr Mill and we watch as the corn is ground into buckets. You can purchase this video at https://www.mischka.com/shop/product.php?productid=17394