Ride Between the Rows: Beck’s production process in Mount Pleasant, IA

With harvest in full swing, seed corn is picked Oct. 9 from a field near Mount Pleasant, IA. (Chris Lusvardi photos)
With harvest in full swing, seed corn is picked Oct. 9 from a field near Mount Pleasant, IA. (Chris Lusvardi photos)

Editor’s Note: The Ride Between the Rows series provides a behind-the-scenes look at Beck’s seed corn production process in Mount Pleasant, IA, beginning in may with planting, continuing in July for detasseling, and concluding in October for harvest. For more photos, videos, and previous stories in the series, go to the Seed Today social media pages and the Fourth Quarter issue.

By Chris Lusvardi

As more fields were being picked in early October, the Beck’s seed corn harvest near Mount Pleasant, IA was well underway.

The process was moving along smoothly, drawing closer to completion without much to slow it down.

Crews had started picking the first seed corn fields the day after Labor Day, says Adam Smith, the corn grower manager for Beck’s. Since then, he says they had been working in mostly dry conditions, usually six days a week.

“The less than an inch of rain we did get didn’t slow us down,” Smith says. “It’s been a warm season. We’d like to control more of the drying if we can.”

On the few days it did rain, Smith says they were able to keep going, only stopping long enough to make sure field conditions were still good to go.

“This year we’ve had perfect weather, so it hasn’t been an issue,” Smith says. “We’ve taken any opportunity we’ve had to keep picking.”

Smith hadn’t been sure in July what the effect of wind damage might be when it came time to harvest. Some corn had been knocked down as the Beck’s team was in the middle of the detasseling process.

But as crews prepared to go through those fields for harvest, Smith says the storm damage ended up being minimal.

“We weren’t too bad off from it,” Smith says. “We haven’t seen too much different in yield from those fields.”

Inside the Production Plant

With the growing season that began in May wrapping up, the corn picked from the fields was ready to be hauled to the Beck’s facility in Mount Pleasant to finish the production process.

“We’ll be shipping out from now until planting starts next year,” says Blake Smith, production location manager. “After going through quality assurance and bagging, we’re trying to be ready to move loads out to our other locations and dealers.”

With so much corn coming out of the fields at a quickly continuing pace, Adam Smith says they were at times being pushed over their storage capacity. As a result, they needed to find ways to keep up with the supply coming out of the fields.

“Yields have depended on the hybrid,” Adam Smith says. “It’s all been pushing us over our storage capacity. We’ve been using outside bins and putting the corn anywhere and everywhere we find space before we can haul it out.”

As trucks are unloaded coming into the production plant, Blake Smith explains moisture levels are checked to make sure the corn is within the proper range.

“At this point in the season we can pick what we want as it’s actually a little too dry,” Blake Smith says. “At the beginning it was too wet. But we have a limited window to get harvest done so we have to keep going.”

He adds the next step is for workers to husk the corn before sending it onto the dryers. As needed, Blake Smith notes the corn is run through the dryers, which are heated on average to around 100-105 degrees.

“That will take the moisture out,” Blake Smith says. “We can get it even hotter if needed.”

Blake Smith says there are a lot of moving parts along the way as the corn then moves through the sizing and cleaning process. At the end of the production line, automated equipment is used to apply tags to bags as products then are ready to await shipment.

Blake Smith says Beck’s is moving away from using as many bags as it has in the past and is now using bulk boxes as much as possible. As a result, he points out part of the warehouse is stacked full of large, plastic green and black boxes.

Looking Ahead

Although they are relieved to have this year’s growing season wrapping up with sufficient yields and no major setbacks, Adam Smith says they will have little time to relax as the planning process for next year is already getting underway.

He says they have a long list of tasks to accomplish in the next several months, including working with growers to make sure payments are made and planning with them for next year.

Adam Smith says they will see which growers they will be working with again and adding new ones as they plan for how many acres that will be available to grow seed corn. One of his goals is to have maps ready for them showing where next year’s crops will be planted.

“We’ll send growers maps,” he says. “Each one will get a field map so we can work out logistics and figure out what needs to go where.”

With another season to learn from, Adam Smith says they are looking forward to starting over and seeing what next year brings them.

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After being picked, seed corn is poured into a truck and hauled to the nearby Beck’s production plant in Mount Pleasant, IA.
After being picked, seed corn is poured into a truck and hauled to the nearby Beck’s production plant in Mount Pleasant, IA.
Seed corn is measured as it enters Beck’s production plant in Mount Pleasant, IA.
Seed corn is measured as it enters Beck’s production plant in Mount Pleasant, IA.