GENESEO, Ill. — David Powell spent the last 13 July's walking through corn fields. He's one of about 18 people detasseling corn at a Geneseo research field for Wyffels Hybrids. His average of about 17 ...

An employee of Ailes Detasseling walks through a seed corn field near Utica, Neb., in 2024. Detasseling is seen as a rite of passage for Midwest teenagers, but in recent years, more of the detasseling ...

An employee of Ailes Detasseling walks through a seed corn field near Utica, Neb., in 2024. Detasseling is seen as a rite of passage for Midwest teenagers, but in recent years, more of the detasseling ...

As technologically advanced as agriculture has become, some things still must be done by hand. Helping the U.S. corn crop reproduce is one of them. Every summer, workers — many of them teens — pour ...

For decades, corn detasseling was a customary summer job for teenagers in Nebraska and the rest of the Corn Belt. In recent years, however, agriculture companies are relying more on migrant labor to ...

An Iowa based seed-corn company is looking at a new corn variety that will do away with what was once a rite of passage for Iowa teens, and a way for adults to make some extra money in the summer.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... OMAHA, Neb.—Abi Swanson is a self-described girly girl who’s doing hard labor. The 13-year-old from Lincoln is saving money for ballet lessons, so she’s been ...

Pat Christman Aug 5, 2007 Aug 5, 2007 Updated Sep 2, 2014 Few summer jobs are as grueling as corn detasseling. While it is a rite of passage for Midwestern kids, the long hours under the hot sun ...

Every summer, thousands of Midwestern kids as young as 13 load onto school buses early in the morning to do one of the hottest, dirtiest temporary jobs out there. They are the corn detasselers. But ...