Although it is easy to just grab a bag of popcorn and throw it into the microwave, have you ever thought about how those popcorn kernels ended up in that bag?
The popcorn that you eat comes from fields located all over the Midwest. Farmers will usually plant their popcorn crops in April and then harvest the popcorn the following fall, usually around September. After harvesting the popcorn, farmers then sell their popcorn to food processors, such as ConAgra, where the popcorn then gets produced into brands like Orville Redenbachers. From there the popcorn gets shipped out to places all over the U.S. where it can be enjoyed either at the movies or even at home!
So how do I know about all of this? Well, my family has actually grown popcorn for several years. We usually will grow on average around one million pounds of popcorn, but it varies from year to year. All of the popcorn we grow is non-GMO, which means it has not been genetically engineered. After harvesting our popcorn, we then sell it to ConAgra who then packages it and sends it out.
Over the next few months, I will post a popcorn update on the first Thursday of each month so that you can get an idea of how popcorn is grown! This will allow you to see the different growth stages of popcorn along with the harvesting of the popcorn.
So here is the first update for May:
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| This is what the popcorn seed looks like before it is planted. Looks a little different than the stuff you buy in the store! All seed corn will usually have a pink color to it, which is a coating for the seed. |
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| As soon as the planter is filled up with popcorn seed, we can begin to plant. Usually we will plant the seed about an inch to an inch and a half deep with a seed population of 34,000 seeds per acre. All of our popcorn that we are growing this year was just recently planted. We also use the latest technology so that we can ensure that we are being efficient with all of our resources! |
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