Knee high by the 4th of July - this is a well known saying in the farming community.
It is an important saying too. It tells us how the growing season is going so far and is a general measuring stick for all crops.
we're talking about corn - if the corn in the farmer's fields is knee high by the 4th of July the growing season is on track and doing about average, and that is good.
Over the past 5 years there have been times that the corn was only anckle high by the 4th of July, those were years of flooding, very cold springs or drout.
Well, 4th of July is less than a week away and the last couple days I found myself checking out every corn field I passed on my way to and from work. I have a 37 mile drive one way so I do pass many corn fields. And this years report looks good - On average the corn is between knee high and WAIST HIGH. Now granted I did not get out of the car and walk up to the corn to check it out, but you can get a good idea as you drive by and there was even some that looked like it would be more than waist high on a short person like me, I am only 5 foot.
So, so far it looks like we will have good growing seasons for most crops. I cross my fingers that nothing changes for the worse.
