There’s More Than Corn Growing In That Field

We regularly scout crops throughout the growing season, including corn, to get an assessment of the crop. We check on growth, pests, disease, and the like. During this time of the growing season, we’re also checking to see how the ears of corn are growing and developing (er, or not developing as the case may be…). Scouting requires that you actually go out into the field to get samples and make observations. The plants on the edge of the field are not necessarily a good representation of the whole field, so we tend to go pretty far into the field.

Dad got quite a surprise when he was scouting corn recently with one of our agronomists.

Someone had taken out several corn stalks and replaced it with marijuana plants!

This isn’t the first time we’ve found marijuana plants in our fields. The corn crop obviously makes a nice hiding place for such activity – the corn stalks are tall, the fields are large, and it isn’t necessarily uncommon for some plants not to come up at all and leave gaps in the field. The crop offers does a fairly good job of hiding anyone walking inside and protects them from notice. Apparently, there is also plenty of time for the crop to grow before the corn is harvested.

In Michigan, marijuana is illegal except for medicinal uses. After the discovery, dad ultimately decided it was best to call the police and report the plants, which is also something we’ve had to do. After all, we certainly have no use for them and we don’t appreciate people destroying our crop (no, this is not covered by crop insurance) to grow illegal drugs. The police came out, pulled out the plants, and confiscated them.

Before leaving, the police office took out a few of his cards. He wrote on the back: “If you would like to get your marijuana back, please give me a call.” He left them where he had pulled out several of the plants.

I’ll never know if they do, but I seriously hope they call.