Crop Tour Day 10 - Harnessing the Power of Grass, Cows, and Corn

By: Katelyn MacGillvray, Lucy McNiven, Thomas McClure, and Giffin McFaul

This morning, we departed our hotel in Norfolk, Nebraska bright and early at 6:45am and headed out for our biggest day of the trip yet! We had three stops on the agenda, the Wagonhammer Ranch, the Corteva Seed Corn Plant, and Green Plains Ethanol Plant.  Being day 10 of the trip, the class is starting to drag but we rallied and made it to the Wagon hammer Ranch for 8am! Highlights of the day included life lessons from Jay and learning about carbon credits from Mitch.  

Wagonhammer 

What a stop! The crew at Wagon hammer were world class and really opened their operation for us students to analyze. Jay Wolfe, our host, was the previous owner and operator before handing over the reins to his son Alex. We had the third generation of wagon hammer today because the fourth generation was off welcoming the fifth into the world!  

The Wagonhammer Ranch was started in the late 1800's by two brothers who immigrated from Germany at the ages of 14 and 16, they were originally horse traders but after world war one became cattle ranchers. 

Currently Wagonhammer has over 35,000 acres and 2,000 cows. Of those 2000 head - 700 head are purebred cattle. Wagon hammer currently has a purebred angus herd as well as purebred black Simmentals, and purebred Charolais. However, Jay explained to the group that they soon would no longer have Charolais because of how the packers prefer black hided cattle. Why is this? Well, Jay explained that because of premium black angus beef packers prefer to buy black hided cattle and when the packing plants get backed up, they will only take the black hided cattle. 

Due to this, its easier for Wagonhammer to stick to purebred black cattle. Wagonhammer also touched on the origin of their name. Jay explained that back when settlers were originally settling the American countryside they travelled in wagons. A "wagon hammer" was a multipurpose tool used by the pioneers that was both the lynch that connected the double tree to the wagon and a wrench that was used to tighten the nut on the wheel. It is typically a symbol of the ingenuity, and strength of the American forefathers. Jay taught our group about many key aspects of their ranch including the benefits of rotational grazing, raising and selling seedstock, calving and weaning protocols, and branding and vaccinations.  

At the end of the tour we were lucky enough to get some words of advice for the future from Jay which included, try and get off the farm for a short period of time to learn and adapt to different protocols and ways of life - because there is lots that you can learn from observing the way that others run their operations. He also touched on the importance of networking and meeting new people. He stated that some of the most valuable life lessons and opportunities he has had came from people he met at events that he didn't know before. Overall, a great morning at Wagonhammer and a stop that resonated with lots of the students who will take away their key learnings as they move towards the end of their university careers and prepare to move to the future. 

Corteva Seed Corn 

 After a morning at Wagonhammer and a quick lunch, the Bucks traveled to the Corteva seed corn plant in York, Nebraska. We were greeted by several employees at the plant where we were given a presentation showcasing the principles behind growing seed corn and how Corteva communicates and works with their growers to ensure the best quality seed corn.

Seed corn fields are selected mainly for their location and soil fertility. Firstly, the field where the corn is grown must be kept separate from regular corn hybrids because cross contamination from the pollen of other corn can ruin the crop. Planting seed corn is unique compared to grain corn and other crops because growers use two planters to plant female and male plants. Populations and other planting information is set by Corteva. From here stand counts are performed with drones and imagery is taken such as NDVI imaging. After this rogueing crews are sent out to remove any irregular plants. The next step is detasseling where a crew can do 250 acres per day. The weed control is the responsibility of the growers while the disease and pest control is managed by Corteva. After pollination the male corn is destroyed and before harvest that the corn is defoliated. At harvest Corteva brings in their own pickers to harvest the whole cob. They showcased an incredible app that can predict yield from a picture of a cob, saving lots of time and pain from counting kernels. After this presentation we were taken on a tour of the facility where strict safety protocols were enforced. The plant has the capacity to process 3 different hybrids at once. When the corn enters the plant, it is dumped onto a conveyor that takes it to be shucked and sorted. After this process the corn was sent to the dryer where it was dried on the cob and shelled afterwards. After this the kernels are stored in an indoor silo. After this, the seeds are treated with the corresponding seed treatment and then sent to be boxed or bagged. The whole process was quite impressive, and the Bucks (the OAC class of 2025) ended the tour thanking the Corteva staff before heading down the road to our next stop. 

Green Plains Ethanol Plant 

Around 4pm, the Bucks rolled into one of Green Plains’ ethanol production plants, located in York, Nebraska. Shortly after arrival the Bucks were greeted by the plant’s manager Mitch, who began his career in the ethanol industry by sweeping floors at an ethanol plant. Along with Mitch was John Doe, head of product quality inspection post-processing. Together, they explained that the objective of their jobs is to turn corn, in its unprocessed form, into bulk products that have higher values. Notable outputs include low- & high-grade alcohols including medical grade alcohol, wet distillers’ grains, and corn oil.  These products are all created after the initial process of cracking the grain prior to the enzymatic hydrolysis of the grain’s starch - Fun fact! #2 yellow corn grains, used by Green Plains, are around 70% starch.  

Following a brief PowerPoint, Mitch and John toured the bucks around the plant. WOW! Alike to veins, miles of piping connecting fermentation vats, elevators, and chemical tanks resembled the interconnectedness of a living organism. The planning required to undertake this project would have been massive. We discussed the future of ethanol as an industry, learning that more sustainable ethanol production will pave the way to new markets, such as aviation! We also discussed the possibilities of high protein DDG derivatives that could also help the ethanol industry grow. 

This stop along our trip brought insight to the ties between the agricultural and energy industries, and its potential to provide sustainable energy at an economic scale. 

We closed the day with a two-hour drive to our hotel in Omaha! Our brains are bursting with new learnings, life lessons and a significant amount of sleep deprivation. Tomorrow’s start time: 6:15am