industrial autumn

it is a blustery and coolish october day in the nexus and the corn still looks like a john steuart curry painting...irregardless, production has pretty much ended and the wait is for the corn to dry enough to harvest...those secondary ears ( third and fourth photos ) haven't gotten any bigger since my last visit...their size would seem to indicate that they aren't going to add much to the harvest..however, the way industrial agriculture is structured every little bit helps...even if farmers sell to elevators at prices below cost the subsidies those few extra kernels help add to probably don't hurt...the last photo is of an impressive array of zea support roots...different in size than teosinte's, they still mark them out as relatives.