Midwest Maize: How Corn Shaped the US Heartland by Cynthia Clampitt (review)

Many of us would never imagine the impact of a single grain crop upon a nation. But grains shaped empires and civilizations. Clampitt documents corn’s role in the Midwest. I’ve worked and lived with corn all my life, but from this book I still gained a new understanding and appreciation of its importance in developing and sustaining this country.

Clampitt writes with clear, mostly nonscientific, creative language. The discussion of corn’s origin and domestication, as well as transportation’s role in providing vital linkages between cities and farmers, provide readers with new insight. Descriptions of the stockyards brought back vivid memories of Dad trucking livestock to Chicago’s Union Stock Yards and our visits there when we sold cattle. The stockyards’ insatiable demand for livestock and the grain to feed them spurred more grain production and the transportation system to deliver it!

The book includes the history of corn management and the role of mechanization. Some clarification is needed in a section on hand harvesting: Clampitt suggests that multiple harvests of field corn were necessary since plants ripened differently. In reality, my 90-year-old Dad reports, a single harvest occurred when all field corn ears were mature. One was necessary because wagons pulled by mules knocked over corn plants as they rolled through the fields. But, indeed, sweet corn was often harvested as the author suggests. I easily can forgive this and the one or two other small discrepancies.

Chapters on food, feed, and alternative uses provide interesting history and present application. One chapter even includes corn recipes and their history. I’ll leave that to better cooks to read and to enjoy!

Clampitt documents the work done by people such as Mendel, Hopkins, East, Shull, Funk, and Wallace, among others, which led to or promoted corn hybridization. She sheds light on the impact of publications like the Prairie Farmer and Wallace’s Farmer as well as the impact that land-grant colleges had on farmers: they provided knowledge that farmers needed in order to improve farm productivity. Add to this histories on soil testing, fertilization, and weed and pest control, and you have a book that well summarizes the history of Midwest corn production.

Clampitt does not shy away from topics such as transgenic, genetically modified corn, organic production, grass-fed versus corn-fed beef, among other of today’s controversies. The book provides balanced reporting on these issues.

In addition to covering the subject superbly, Clampitt meticulously cites her sources in the text. Notes for each chapter lead readers to her original sources and more information. A seemingly complete index rounds it out.

Clampitt displays a knack of blending history, poetry, science, personal interviews, illustrations, and literature together in a way that kept my interest and compelled continued reading. It’s an excellent resource for anyone interested in the Midwest. Historians, farmers, agribusiness people, professors, scientists, extension professionals, students—high school through graduate school—and, yes, those gifted with kitchen skills, will find this interesting.