The Corn Crib
The corn crib, which is 22’ x 32’, is the oldest building on Butternut Ridge Farm. No one can remember when this building was built, but there is a 12’ x 32’ lean-to on the back that was added in 1955. The cupola was a later addition as it is not visible in the 1938 photo. A New Idea farm conveyor or "elevator" used to rest against the roof and terminate inside the cupola. When the elevator was powered by a tractor, ear corn was "elevated" up through the cupola, filling the corn crib from the top. Originally, the corn crib had wooden slat siding, which allowed air to circulate through and dry the corn. Corn cribs like this are rapidly disappearing because the slat siding also allows rain inside the building, thus rotting them. Modern farming practices have also made this type of corn storage building obsolete because modern combines shell each ear of corn as it is picked instead of leaving the whole ear of corn intact like the old-style pickers did. The corn crib has served as a corn crib, dairy barn (downstairs), hog farrowing barn (downstairs), and storage shed. The small building on the left side used to be a summer kitchen for the farm’s original log cabin. It was moved here, next to the corn crib, some time in the 1930’s. There is a basement underneath, which served as a milk room, where the water hydrant is located.
In 1961, a wire corn crib was erected for ear corn storage. The concrete slab that the wire corn crib sits on was poured on November 3, 1961. The wire corn crib was purchased in Dyersville, Iowa, and was in turn, replaced by the 6500 bushel Eaton grain bin in 1978, which is 24’ in diameter, and used for storing corn and soybeans. Although wire corn cribs are becoming a rare sight on today’s farms, wire corn cribs are not obsolete. On many farms, wire corn cribs are still used for ear-corn storage, for firewood storage, or for use as dog kennels. Some people plant ivy or clematis and turn their wire corn cribs into gazebos. In addition, some zoos in the midwest have used them as inexpensive animal cages. On Butternut Ridge Farm, the wire corn crib serves as a duck and geese cage, to protect them from nightly predators such as raccoons and coyotes.
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