By CINDY LADAGE
Illinois Correspondent

HAMPSHIRE, Ill. — On Oct. 10, Bob and Phyllis Johnson invited those with pickers, shellers, wagons and tractors to come and play a day at their farm.

The day began with corn husking, which is a lost art. According to an article by Ron Deiss, corn husking competitions were started by Harry Wallace in 1921: “He envisioned contests as a scientific approach to the comparison and improvement of husking techniques.”

The corn husking events were big deals. Dick Humes, a national corn husking champion who demonstrated the technique, shared his experiences with the crowd at the Johnsons’ farm.
“When I won the national championship, I shucked 48 bushels. There are only four people in history that picked 50 bushels per hour in 80 minutes,” he said.

Humes explained the corn husking contests were the predecessors to the annual Farm Progress Show. “The last national contest was in 1941,” he said. “That hybrid corn changed everything.”

The 1941 National Corn Husking Contest was in La Salle County, Ill. This last big event drew 22 huskers from 11 states.

“I have been fortunate to win National once at Dells Rapid, South Dakota, in the 50 and older category,” Humes added. This is a family affair; his son and wife also pick and have won various competitions as well.

The corn husking at the Johnson farm was performed by Don “Mac” McKinley of the 1930s Ag Museum in Quincy, Ill., along with Humes. McKinley was one of four boys living on a farm, and expected to help out.

“After doing the chores, we would harness the horses, knock the frost off and get going. Five of us, my brothers and dad, once picked 165 bushels (in a day) and Dad thought that was the best thing ever.”

To get 100 bushels a day as a group, he explained, was a chore: “Picking 100 bushels a day, in a 10-hour day, you picked 10 bushels per hour. Then the picker came along and they could pick 42 bushels a day, and that isn’t shelled.”

McKinley said for those who want more information about corn husking and shelling, one of the best resources he has found recently is a new book by Jim Moffet titled The Hand Held Corn Sheller.

“When you think of the evolution of the corn harvest since 1890-” McKinley paused and shook his head. “When you see a corn sheller, think about how those evolved.”