Farmer looks for decade of dominance in tall corn competition

Clarence Anderson of Brighton has won the Iowa’s State Fair “Tall Corn” contest for the last nine years in a row. In one week, he’ll know whether he’s taken the title for a tenth year. He says about 25 years ago he saw “tall corn” in a Shumway Seed Catalogue, and has been saving the seed from his tallest stalks ever since. Anderson says the corn’s not just a hobby, but has valuable uses on the farm. It has about nine-percent protein, and makes good animal feed. Anderson says the corn’s long leaves and stalks also make good silage, and he enters the corncobs in the “Longest Ear of Corn” competition at the fair. Last year’s winning stalks were 16-feet, seven and-a-half inches tall.