Tractor Tuesday-Cow Popcorn

I am pretty sure I never saw one of these in the UK and I don't think I remember seeing any maize fields there, 30 years ago. I am not a great fan of the stuff but in fact it has been grown in southern Germany as early as 16th & 17th century but very limited and in "garden" form. The potato blights of the 19th century made it more popular and started it's journey as a farm crop. The rest is history, maize seems to be used for everything from car fuel to packaging material but only a very small portion lands directly on our plates.

Indirectly we get to consume it in our milk and meat. Most of the maize here is used as silaged cattle fodder but for a few weeks before the silage is made, some farmers use the Bliped equipment to cut and shred fresh maize plants and feed the cattle directly. The red contraption captures a single row of plants, chops it up and throws it out on to the trailer. I would have liked to have photographed one in action but there are very few ´farmers who still do it and perhaps due to the very wet fields, they are waiting for dryer weather which is at last now coming.

The Blip was from Farmer Müller who is the one who kindly clears out his field barn to allow the village youth to do last weekends parties. The indian runner ducks also belong to the family and are frequently seen walking around on the road.