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| The 2010 corn field beside the Boy's house |
During the last year I have learned a lot about corn. The Boy is from Iowa, and although cattle are his passion his family also plants a lot of corn. And I find it fascinating. One of the biggest lessons about corn I have learned is that corn has the opportunity to make you a lot of money.
In this case, so much money that Kelly Tilges is tearing up the Whitemore Golf Club, Algona, Iowa, to plant corn.
I have heard a lot of farmers talk this year about planting over roads, closer to ditches, taking our fence line to make more room – every acre counts. But tearing up a golf course, maybe that is going a little too far.
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| I can't wait for summer days like this. |
According to the Des Moines Register a doubling in the price of corn since mid-2010 has caused Iowa farmland to rise 25% in price, now averaging $5,700 an acre. Iowa is also expected to plant about 500,000 more acres of corn this year compared to 2010.
That’s if they can ever get it in the ground. Iowa farmers are getting a touch impatient. Typically, seeders would be going a full blast right now, but cold weather, and too much rain have delayed planting.
I know that it is going to take a lot of acres to grow enough food to feed the world, but I know how much golf courses can mean to small community. In the town I grew up in of 300 people there are two 9-hole golf courses, and last summer I enjoyed playing with the Boy at their course.
I understand that we might not have all the facts here. It seems like in any journalism stories these days that only one side of the issue is presented. The golf course maybe wasn't a money making business, and this gentlemen knows how to get a few more dollars out of it. Regardless, those bright emerald greens and fairways are now going to be field of gold.
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