Children of the Corn

I was very interested in the passages about farming in Iowa. My family owns a cornfield in Iowa that has been passed down for over a century. It is planted and harvested by an Iowan, in exchange for a share in the profits. Unlike the farmers in the book, Brad alternates each year between corn and soy beans; I do not know what type of fertilizer is used.

I was not surprised to learn that cattle are fed corn. One of my relatives is a rancher (also in Iowa) and once told me the story of buying new cattle to add to his herd, and the difficulty he had in switching them from hay to corn. I was however, shocked to learn that the cattle are also fed meat byproducts. It is hard for me to understand how ranchers can justify what they feed their cattle when it is necessary to employ full time vets to care for the abundance of sick animals.