Corncobs germinate a new career

StarTribune
Article by: DAVID SHAFFER , Star Tribune Updated: August 16, 2011 - 7:58 AM
When Eric Woodford began harvesting biomass 15 years ago, he realized that existing farm equipment wasn't up to the job. So he invented something better, and now sells it.

EMMETSBURG, Iowa -- Corncobs used to give Eric Woodford a headache.

Now they've given him a new career.

It began more than 15 years ago when he started a business in Redwood Falls, Minn., to collect cornstalks from farmers' fields using baling equipment designed for hay.

"The front of the balers would plug up because this crop doesn't flow in," said Woodford, who owned several machines that make round bales and plop them out the back.

Cobs jammed the machines, forcing him to stop work and unclog them by hand. "It was extremely dangerous," he added. "I knew there had to be a better way."

It took more than a decade, but Woodford invented a technology that now comes standard on a $55,000 baler manufactured by Vermeer of Pella, Iowa. It's called a Cornstalk Special and has an attachment on the front to prevent corncobs from jamming.

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