Listen in the Fields:  November 11, 2006

Pam and Maurice Johnson just finished bringing in the corn harvest for the year, and are now preparing the land for next year's planting. As part of our Listening In series, independent producer Gideon D'Arcangelo ventured to Floyd, Iowa, to see what Pam and Maurice were listening to as they brought in this year's crop.

Notes from Producer Gideon D'Arcangelo
I wondered if farmers listened to anything when they're riding in their combines, bringing in the harvest. It seemed to me that they must need something to pass the time, since they're going down long rows of corn, 10 to 12 hours a day. Pam and Maurice Johnson, fifth-generation corn farmers from northern Iowa, assured me that they have the radio on non-stop when they're working the corn harvest. They invited me to come listen with them.

I flew into Des Moines and took the long drive north up to the Johnson Farm in Floyd, Iowa, 15 miles south of the Minnesota border. Pam calls the drive from Des Moines to Floyd "good thinking time" and I'd have to agree. The prairie stretches out in every direction like an endless yellow carpet of cornstalks. It was October, and the corn harvest was in full tilt.

"For farmers, this is the culmination of all the energy you pour into the whole crop," Pam said. "Starts in the spring with planting, and you kind of watch it, and you nurture it, and then, in the fall, it's one of my favorite times of the year, cause you get to be outside, and see little bits of beauty, and bring the crop in. We're having a good year this year, so it's a good feeling to get it in."

The harvest is now done, the geese are heading southward overhead, and they're preparing the land for next year's planting.