industrial corn harvesting isn't that efficient either

i was out collecting materials for tomorrow's garden mulching and my travels took me past the industrial corn field i have been watching all summer and sure enough it has been reaped...you can see the big box stores that the corn hid ( and that green sign in the middle of the photo of the harvested field says the land is certainly for sale..it is at the nexus of rural and suburban here...but we've been through that )...the upshot is that industrial corn harvesting is no more efficient than soybean harvesting...there are lots of cobs stripped clean of kernels laying about...but there are quite a few with kernels still attached...and lots of loose kernels around as well...which is where the mutant volunteer corn in the soybean field came from and doubtlessly some will crop up in this field next spring ( i fit isn't pave over by then )...so just like the bean field i picked up a kerneled cob and some loose seed and i will be planting them both in the spring to have a closer look at just how a second generation of licensed seed will behave...albeit without the chemical inputs the parent generation received...and they will have to put up with competition from lamb's quarters if any turn up because i won't weed a native food crop because it isn't a weed...i have to say the last three years of doing this has not been boring in the least...i have met some likeable people ( and a few i loved ) and i have had an education...some frustrating failures along the way too...but those just added to the education...more tomorrow as the mulch goes down and a discussion of the usda's change of my home ecosystem form hardiness zone five to zone six...the zea diploperennis may have a chance.