If you’ve ever wondered what happens when a conveyor breaks while thousands of pounds of popcorn are moving into a grain bin... this is it.
Popcorn. Everywhere.
During harvest, we use conveyors to move popcorn from our trucks into the grain bins. We prefer conveyors over augers whenever we can because they’re gentler on the kernels. Instead of a metal screw turning through the popcorn, a conveyor carries the kernels along on a belt.
That matters more than you might think.
A scratch or crack in a popcorn kernel can affect how it pops. This is especially important with our Omega Mushroom™ popcorn. Those are the kernels that pop into the big, round balls that work so well for caramel corn and other coatings. If a Mushroom kernel gets scratched, it may pop more like Butterfly popcorn instead.
So we try to be pretty careful with it.
But conveyors have their own problems.
When the Belt Breaks...
The popcorn doesn’t stop coming just because the conveyor does.
When this one broke during harvest, we grabbed whatever we could find to catch the popcorn before it hit the ground.
Enter the kids’ swimming pool. 😂
Yes, that really is a kiddie pool full of popcorn in the photo.
It helped. For a little while.
Once popcorn hits the dirt, we don’t scoop it up and put it back in the bin. That popcorn stays on the ground. We spend months growing this crop, so watching perfectly good popcorn spill out while you’re scrambling to stop it is a little painful.
At least it makes a good story later.
And apparently an October calendar photo. 😉
From the Field to Your Bowl
Moving popcorn into the bin is one of those parts of harvest most people probably never think about, but how we handle the kernels after they leave the field can affect the popcorn you eventually pop at home.
The combine, trucks, conveyors, bins and eventually our processor all play a part in getting popcorn from our field into your bag.
Some days that process goes exactly as planned.
Other days you find yourself filling a swimming pool with popcorn.
FARM FUNNY 🌽
Why don’t farmers cry over spilled popcorn?
Because the tears would just make it soggy. 😜🍿
October is National Popcorn Poppin’ Month!
The timing of October’s Farm Foe is pretty fitting because October is also National Popcorn Poppin’ Month.
Popcorn has been celebrated throughout October for more than 35 years, and the timing lines up with popcorn harvest across much of the Midwest. Around here, that means a lot of popcorn is moving from the field to the combine, into trucks and eventually into our bins.
Hopefully it all makes it into the bin this year. 😉
Your turn: What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever grabbed to save the day when something broke?
Follow along each month as we share another Farm Foe and a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to grow your popcorn on our family farm.
Small Farm. Big Flavor.
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