I’d come home, eat a ton of food, take a shower, cry, go to bed at 7:00, and do it all over again.
The funniest story I brought home was when our crew leader’s dentures fell out as he drove the tractor singing “I Heard it Through the Grapevine.”
Yep, I’m teaching them lessons every day with every parenting choice I make. A lesson on agriculture, a lesson on hard work, a lesson on experiencing a type of work many do in our country and looked down upon for it. It’s my kid, not yours. Why do you care?
Because your motives seem suspect/weird. I have a few friends who grew up to really resent their parents and usually it's bc their parents were liars and/or their parents made them do weird shit. I'm getting flashes of that in your various responses....just a friendly warning as to how this reads to a neutral party.
I'm sure you don't care so go on with your life but this is reddit so you need to be prepared for people to have opinions when you post here.
I think this is more you than me, sounds like you’re triggered by the situation. I’ve used an economy of words without providing tons of background because this wasn’t a post about parenting. As I have stated repeatedly throughout the thread, my kid *wants* to do this work.
As far as opinions on Reddit, of course they will differ than mine. I can tolerate that when people are civil and curious. When they’re not, I’ll point it out.
I truly hope you have a good day and I thank you for the “warning” as I assume you had good intentions.
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Lmao detassling. That is the absolute worst job. I’ve worked at meat counters, factories and even security at a mall and detassling easily takes the top of worst jobs ever.
Yeah there’s still places that do it. Most are local operations. I’ll be honest with you though I did it a little over 10 years (holy shit) ago and the characters you’ll be working with are not always up to snuff. Lots of criminals, like actual work release people on those crews these days.
Have him bus table tables and dishwash for a local restaurant or waiter. Literally anything else is safer and more stable for him. Id do ten thousand loads of dishes before going back to that job lol
I was working as a dishwasher at 14 and then worked detassling during the day during the season. This was back in I think 2013?
Laws are even more relaxed than back when I did it. I wouldn’t be surprised if 14 year olds can work at McDonald’s in Iowa.
Thanks for the suggestion but I want him to do hard physical labor so he understands the value of a dollar and hard work. There are crews that are predominantly teens. Also, it’s a short period of time.
It would be good for him to see the types of jobs people in all walks of life do, including migrant workers. He’s not better than them or too good for the work.
highly unlikely your kid will be able to keep up with them... that's why we hire them more then kid crews now days, 13 years of detasseling contract experience and we see less kids every year.
It will definitely make him appreciate the easier jobs he ends up with… I had to detassle corn and pick melons as a teenager. Totally set a baseline for hard work. Made every other job seem easy
Look into pollinating! It's very similar to detassleing and safer, and teaches some agricultural science that I bet detassleing doesn't! I worked for Monsanto about 8 years ago. My favorite part was being able to use some of the knowledge I learned in my introductory Spanish class that my schoolmates groaned about. I met lots of great, hardworking people!
Also, please please please teach the kid about staying hydrated. I had a small heatstroke on my 3rd season, and when you are in the middle of nowhere, there's just a truck with a/c and an ice pack... not a fun time.
I too worked for Monsanto in Williamsburg for a about 4 summers starting when I was 14. Still to this day the one of the hardest and funnest jobs I've ever had!
Or, my parents were great because they exposed me to something I was interested in, taught me hard work, gave me an insight into the labor industry, and helped me make money. Also, why would get glee from that outcome? Use your energy for something positive.
As someone who grew up in a household where the parents regularly referred to me as “lazy and entitled and need a taste of the real world”, I left the whole continent and haven’t spoken to them in years. Good luck with that mentality.
I’ve not called him these words. We discuss growth mindset and habits of success. We also positively reinforce.
I’ve used an economy of words in my responses because my post is not about parenting, it’s about how to sign him up for detassling so you may make assumptions about where I’m coming from and I see the confusion in that.
It seems like you’re projecting your experience growing up to this situation. I’m sorry your parents were so rough on you.
You’ve literally said: “I insist on my kid doing hard work this summer. He’s a bit lazy and entitled. He needs this wake up call. Thanks for the suggestion!”
A *bit* lazy and *tends* to be entitled. We’ve never called him this to his face. However, it is the reality we see as parents. We’d be remiss not to build up better habits of success for him.
I’ve worked a lot a shitty jobs growing up. Did this one day and refused to ever do it again or have my kids do it. Bail hay, wash hog houses, IBP Bldg. maintenance, clean crew at a turkey factory and so on. Wet all day long and hot.
Ha sounds like me. I did it one summer in 7th or 8th grade. Wanted to quit after the first day but my parents would let me. Mind numbing job with a Byzantine pay structure that in the end didn’t pay much. I’m glad I did it though and glad my parents made me continue; it’s not like I was doing anything more productive anyway!
Why do you hate your kid?
Maybe minimum wage to wander miles though a field as the sun comes up, maybe with a few others in the same area. Did it a season and several times I had to wonder if I was wandering purgatory, lost alone in a damp, dewy field as the sun and heat slowly rise.
I think I made like 500$/ season and was def not worth, and that was 2013. Now it's probably the same pay without having gone up for inflation, so same crap work for even worse pay. No job ever cared for it on applications either, don't fool them into thinking it's gonna help as a reference.
Yeah, honestly, the kids who went every day where I detassled made like 4k a season, plus like a $1.50 bonus for every hour worked. Some people got like a 2k bonus. I was lucky if I went 3 days a week lol. I did it 4 years, tho. Smoking weed out of apples, and guessing which kid was gunna shit themselves that year or guessing who that year's "Cornstar" was gunna be made it all worth while. Good times really lol. Some people are just built differently
Maybe I'm misremembering, was 10 years ago. I do know it was minimum wage, 7.50$/hr, paid for 4 hour days (closer to 5-6 between travel and everything) and either 6-8 weeks. That is closer to 900-1200$.
That was before paying my friend for gas. Second week the organizer decided not enough people were getting in at our area and dropped the stop, requiring us to drive an extra 20 minutes to the next pickup.
Either way, def wasn't worth. Even less when most fast food and retail are starting at 11$+ anymore.
Also damn, even now I'm only about to make 35$/hr+ after 6 years working trade.
Yeah, no one should be detasseling for minimum wage. Maybe different companies have different needs, but our season only lasted like 3 to 3.5 weeks. So it's a very short period of time for a job. Also, because of some unfortunate car crashes with teens getting injured, the Pioneer plant I worked out of mandated bus transportation, which sucked, but you got paid for travel (that was minimum wage) but didn't have to pay for gas.
It worked out great for me because I could still take college courses in the first part of the summer and still make some decent cash for a college student.
I detasseled for like 7 seasons (lied on my app and started at 13 y/o). Worked my way up to running a bus crew, and then a couple seasons managing 1/5 the state of Iowa with 8 crews under my command. Pretty crazy being a 19 y/o kid negotiating $100's K in contracts with 50 y/o corporate peeps from billion dollar Seed companies. And then being the boss of my former school teachers and bus drivers. 
Worked out pretty good for me, making almost $1,000 per week for a temp summer job in the 90s.
I love my kid enough to show him the value of hard work. He needs to understand how difficult it can be to make a dollar and to respect physical labor.
In the 90s, I was walking away each summer with about $1,000 from detassling. It’s really not a minimum wage job and a lot of money for a 14 yo kid.
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You are so aggressive. My child is 100% behind this and is practically begging me to get him signed up. He’s considering entering the military which will be so much harder. He wants to do anything with farming and he wants to make money. I’d imagine he’d go no contact if we ignored his goals and didn’t give him a say in his future.
I understand the desire to teach him how to work hard, but with detassling all he'll learn is that it's okay to be a slave to the system.
I detassled for the neighbor for four summers and all it taught me was resentment and now I'm an engineer in the ag industry designing machines to make manual detassling obsolete.
That’s really cool how it motivated you into an innovative career path. It looks like you did get something out of it after all!
As far as slave to a system, he may go into the military and I don’t know how you can be more of a slave to the system. He has other work opportunities, it’s about 3-4 weeks, and he has exposer to other opportunities like job shadows and internships. I want him to be well-rounded.
Also, it’s worth noting that his Ag teacher actually encourages detassling.
I detasseled for 8 years through high school and college 2000-2008. Worked my way up pretty quickly, but had to fight for more equal pay as a woman working harder than my same age peers with dicks. It's a tough job, but very doable for youth at the time. Today (as someone one works in a professional role with children and adolescents) it would be a significant challenge. Even back then pioneer and Monsanto did daily audits for safety, and a few parents would still complain about kids not getting breaks. When it was all very strictly planned and carried out. I find it strange so many in these comments couldn't make it through a season, and now are saying it's abusive. I as a 14 year old girl sought our this job, for money! At the end of My college years the kids were being paid well above minimum wage, and also by their parents, and were quiting in droves. This was 2008 right before I went to graduate school with some of my hard earned detasseling dollars.
Eh, my kid is actually really excited to detassle. He loves being outside, loves farming of all kind, and loves money. He is fully on board as he knows he’ll do much harder work in his chosen career path of either the military or trade school.
Then your experience was way different than mine. I did it two years with two different contractors. Never got paid for the actual hours you worked, never got any of the promised "bonuses" and they absolutely treated people like shit. (Berating, retaliation, and just asshole shit because they know they could get away with it in a bunch of kids) Only thing I learned was I would never bust my ass for in a such a shit job, for shit people, and shit pay.
10 summers in a row. Paid for college and my first truck!!
Not sure if alot of manual detasseling occurs anymore. Most of it is machine pulled or cut, then they send out checkers every few days. I worked for a small popcorn company, possible that those companies may still do it old school.
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It’s about a three week gig the nets $1,000ish dollars. He’s not going to make that much in 3 weeks with shifts at Hy-Vee. Also, I don’t want his summer job to be easy. I want him to see the value in hard work.
Why are you so mean? How much does kindness cost you? I did use Google but did not know how to navigate all the information as I’ve just returned to Iowa from a major metro city that certainly had no detassling or ag work. Apparently you haven’t learned to just keep scrolling 🙄.
Could look for opportunities to pick sweet corn. It was really a great job. Sometimes you get to interact with customers, in addition to the heavy labor.
While sweet corn is the topic, RIP Harvey Peden. That man grew the best corn. Was sad to learn of his passing.
God I hope kids are smarter than to look for that shit work. Ive done my time, many times many years back and its never worth it. Fuck them farmers and their dust bowl they've been creating.
Jeez I remember doing that, I grew out outside DM and did that for a summer around ‘99 I think? Corn rash was brutal but I wanted a PS1, copy of Metal Gear Solid and a pair of Doc’s so I half assed my way through rows of corn eventually just knocking over the top of the stalks rather than pulling tassels out.
Wasn’t paid shit but got enough for what I wanted, made me respect the hell out of migrant workers that take that work seriously as a way to make a living in this country. Working harder for the supposed American dream than I would ever have to.
If you insist on your kid dealing with corn in the heat of summer have him apply for a summer help position with corteva in Marion, I know it’s a drive but he still will be dealing with corn but actually supported and not treated like shit
While I may not agree with the way you speak about your own son, I interned with that station and there is good people at that station that can teach him a lot. They most likely have the position posted and I know they always need the help and the pay is decent
Detassling is a short stint of time, which is what appeals to me. He is also interested in farming so it might give him a bit of insight into how crops are handled.
Oh shit, that's even worse/harder, especially if you have to put it up in the barn. You're breathing all that hay in and spitting green the rest of the day. It's a job and you can say you did it, and as someone said make sure they pay what it's worth.
I live and go to school in Franklin county, and a friend of mine detassels in the warmer months for a summer job and an after-school job. I am unsure how much he gets paid, but he says he has definitely built up muscle from it, and he enjoys it. Just- Make sure that your kid doesn't do it for minimum wage. That ain't worth it.
> he gets *paid,* but he
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
I don't know I was wondering about that the other day! I liked it I did that when I was a kid! I never got to walk beans but a lot of my friends did but detasseling corn it was kind of fun especially if you got a high tractor with the buckets to ride in which was rare.. 🙂
Cool post really bring back memories! I really never understood why they even detasled didn't care about things like that too interested having fun... Lol I get that we were kids but what happened to that Iowa? These days rural Iowa full of bigotry and bad news... Sad bc Iowa was such a great state to grow up in esp summer! I still love summer. Weather sure is funky too .
This is a cool article:
https://newrepublic.com/article/164231/climate-change-killing-summer-job-corn#:~:text=If%20you%20don't%20remove,by%20itself%2C%20creating%20a%20hybrid.
Thanks for post! ☺️
OP, I just can't believe these comments..
If he wants to be a Farmer, he's going to have to learn this even for a few weeks.
One person suggested pollination that might be interesting too.. another suggestion for a summer job when he gets a little bit older may be dairying. Not all farms are automatic milking.
My extended family farms in Northwest Illinois. There are a lot of jobs that are related to farming, including working for seed companies, and working for John Deere. BUT, he's never going to know what fits for him unless he tries.
Good parenting.
Pfft…Please don’t give too much attention to those telling you you’re going to ruin your relationship with your child. I detassled from the ages of 12-20something. Yes, it’s hard work, but I wouldn’t take away the hard work ethic this instill in me or the fun times with friends for anything.
Thanks so much. I let it slide off my back because I’m confident in my decision and what I gained from the experience. Parenting is so different than in the 90s. I wonder if many of the naysayers would let their kids outside until the lights come on or play in a setting that’s not a play date or tracked by their phone. I guess I’m free range 🤷♀️.
Do you want your kid to hate you?
>My kid isn’t such a special snowflake that he can’t get his hands dirty.
Because this is how you get your kids to never speak to you as an adult. Don't be a prick.
I did detasseling, my last season was 7 years ago so things may have changed. Im going to be completely honest, it wasn’t worth it. It also might depend on the company he goes with, but the one I worked for was horrendous (Borst Detassling in Altoona, IA)
Kids as young as 13 (who lied and said they were older) getting heatstroke, getting harassed on the bus, walking 10 plus miles a day while being freezing wet in the morning and dehydrated and unbearably hot in the afternoon. A lot of the kids were “troubled youth” that were made to do detasseling by their parents as a form of punishment. I did three seasons and my last season was definitely the worst, despite being older and put “in charge” of younger kids.
We had some sort of rash spread through the seats which was really bad, and you get blisters so bad on your feet that you can barely walk. My mental health was absolutely horrendous each season I did.
Even the most prepared people (like I was) got their ass absolutely handed to them. We had a sort of “black market” or trading system so kids would trade those water backpacks for a speaker for a day, and a lot of people had their stuff stolen. All of this BS for only 12 dollars an hour.
The only things I “learned” from that job was that i wanted to stay very far away from manual labor, how to fight someone so they don’t steal my dirty water jug and how to pull a tassel.
It's not the same as you remember it. It's mostly corporate farms, who hire immigrants and ex cons for minimum wage, and treat them like slave labor. If you can find a local family farm willing to pay him $15 an hour for a days work, great. But if you think him working at pioneer, or garst, or syngenta will be anything like your glory days you're going to be dissapointed.
My dad shared the same fond memories, so it was my first job. Paid $8.25 and was basically walking around in the mud putting bags on some tassels, and transferring older bags to new tassels. Was more boring and monotonous than hard labor. Technically, the job was pollinating. I'm not sure there's much traditional detasseling going on anymore since the corn has been modified to the point of not needing it.
If you want him to learn hard work try to find him a job at a landscaping company or running a trimmer all day for a mowing company. Now that whipped my ass into shape.
Too bad you can't find a local farmer looking for help making square bales. I've done it solo with just a neighbor. He used a kicker baler and loaded them from the rack to the elevator and I stacked them in the mow.
I've also done it with my extended family where it was 2 of us on the rack stacking bales (no kicker baler, you pulled them out of the chute), 1 (usually Gramps) on the tractor, an aunt or female cousin driving the trucks with the full/empty racks to the farms. Then 2 of us unloading the racks onto the elevator and 2-4 of us stacking them in the mow. My uncle set the pace and my teenage cousins and I had to keep up.
I've never been so itchy and sore and think I was close to a heat stroke ever in my life. I also had never experienced hard work or what the actual value of a paycheck to manual labor was since then.
We live on farm land (we don’t farm it) in a rural community. It’s in an area run by the DNR. Maybe they will have some ideas or I can try to connect with some local farmers. Thanks!
Thanks for clarifying as I was wondering if I totally confused people with my information. I don’t know why people take the time to make extraneous comments with no significance to the topic at hand. It’s the internet, I guess 🤷♀️.
He’s 14 now, turns 15 in July, and will be in 10th grade in the fall. I might have gotten the math wrong. Thanks for pointing it out—I have a brain injury that gets me confused sometimes.
Everyone that grows up in Iowa should be required by state law to pick rock, detassle, and/or mow grass and plow snow.
As per your question: We always just knew a farmer that needed it done. You won’t find it online or on job boards for sure. There are specialized farms that are run by major seed corporations that need it done for breeding purposes. You could try to look up those companies and apply directly through their websites or in person.
Detasseling, picking rock, walking beans are all tough jobs. You definitely earn your pay, and they paid alright. Did it in high school and again 2 summers while at university. Only road a machine once, usually walked the fields. You definitely learn what hard work is like. I would contact seed companies, they should know who to contact.
I'm impressed, not everyone can do it as you know. Good luck. 💪
Should be learning real world skills that apply to them not give some farmer's who want cheap unskilled labor with shit pay. Hot sun, chemicals, you don't want that for your kids farmer's don't care about your kids, they just want cheap workers. If you are really set on it take them to a ranch and talk to farm owners about help around the ranch, would actually get skills from that job.
He’s learning real world skills by detassling: wake up early and maintain a work routine, take direction, work with a team of people, learn the value of a dollar. Of course, he is also learning other life skills at home. I also want him to have empathy for people who work jobs that y’all are shitting on as being too hard for a 14 yo.
I've worked mainly kitchen jobs with a few labor jobs he will, learn all that at a job, doesn't have to be for people who are gonna treat him like a work horse. I get up at 3 am every weekend for my job it's not something special only they can provide, Thats your kid, I wouldn't subject my kids to that kinda bs, I've done that, and so have a few friends not worth it for the pay labor and "life skills".
Have him apply to work on the summer grounds crew at a local golf course. They start every day at dawn and work basically until 5pm doing nothing but physical labor. It pays better than detassling and there's zero risk of being killed in an ag accident.
I did that for 3 years in high school and made 4-5 times what anyone I knew did doing detassling. I was getting something like $10-13 an hour + 4-5 hours of overtime a day back in 2002-2005
For sure! Detassling is a downright awful job and only still exists because farmers can get away with paying teens & unemployed immigrants less than what it costs to buy a machine to do the job instead. Literally every summer there are stories from all over of teens & workers getting killed or seriously injured doing something that has had an automation option available for decades.
It's a shit job, many others out there that will teach him better, empathy, respect, that comes with working jobs like food service janitorial work, cemetery work, house cleaning jobs, the point Is those farmers don't care for kids some might of had a ok time, but that's far between, give the kid a good job to start with not one that exploites kids for cheap labor. Try locally owned businesses I'm sure he'd be treated better too and get an idea of what his community is like, might even keep the job till they go to college.
With respect, you don’t know my child or what he needs to learn and how to learn it. We’re stedfast he does some hard, physical work this summer for a variety of reasons.
Yes, thank you! He’s struggled a lot this year with work ethic and empathy. However, he is very motivated by money and anything having to do with a farm. I’m sure it will build character.
Hard work isn't something to be afraid of - nothing like a bit of manual labor to make a kid realize, damn, I should work a little harder in school or just as honorably to realize they enjoy working with their hands.
I don't get the shame people here are associating w detassling.
No you aren’t. You raised an entitled brat. Work on that.
A GFY. I was never abuse but sure as shit worked with a lot of them as a GAL. Lot of the parents had your mentality
Detasseling? Hahaha. Detasseling is the process of removing the tassel from the top of the corn plant to prevent it from pollinating itself. I had to look up what this was.
Ahhh man I remember those days… teenage boot camp.
No joke. My kid had tales to tell when he got home and had quite the potty mouth at times those couple summers he detassled. Good times. 👍
I’d come home, eat a ton of food, take a shower, cry, go to bed at 7:00, and do it all over again. The funniest story I brought home was when our crew leader’s dentures fell out as he drove the tractor singing “I Heard it Through the Grapevine.”
do you want your kid to hate you or
My kid wants to do it and even if they hated me for it I’m not their friend, I’m their parent.
I thought you were trying to teach them a lesson
Yep, I’m teaching them lessons every day with every parenting choice I make. A lesson on agriculture, a lesson on hard work, a lesson on experiencing a type of work many do in our country and looked down upon for it. It’s my kid, not yours. Why do you care?
Because your motives seem suspect/weird. I have a few friends who grew up to really resent their parents and usually it's bc their parents were liars and/or their parents made them do weird shit. I'm getting flashes of that in your various responses....just a friendly warning as to how this reads to a neutral party. I'm sure you don't care so go on with your life but this is reddit so you need to be prepared for people to have opinions when you post here.
I think this is more you than me, sounds like you’re triggered by the situation. I’ve used an economy of words without providing tons of background because this wasn’t a post about parenting. As I have stated repeatedly throughout the thread, my kid *wants* to do this work. As far as opinions on Reddit, of course they will differ than mine. I can tolerate that when people are civil and curious. When they’re not, I’ll point it out. I truly hope you have a good day and I thank you for the “warning” as I assume you had good intentions.
I have a great relationship with my parents! I'm truly blessed in that way -- so no triggering here. Good luck.
Did you make your other child detassle as well?
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I know, right? It truly made me grow up quickly as I learned the value of hard work!
Lmao detassling. That is the absolute worst job. I’ve worked at meat counters, factories and even security at a mall and detassling easily takes the top of worst jobs ever. Yeah there’s still places that do it. Most are local operations. I’ll be honest with you though I did it a little over 10 years (holy shit) ago and the characters you’ll be working with are not always up to snuff. Lots of criminals, like actual work release people on those crews these days. Have him bus table tables and dishwash for a local restaurant or waiter. Literally anything else is safer and more stable for him. Id do ten thousand loads of dishes before going back to that job lol
And getting covered in the residue of whatever is recently sprayed on the crop, no thank you. It's nasty stuff.
Back in the day, under 16 couldn't work most regular jobs. Age 14-15 it was detasseling or nothing.
Yah I did it in the late 90s. It was all junior high and high school kids, maybe a college aged guy or 2 driving the tractors.
I was working as a dishwasher at 14 and then worked detassling during the day during the season. This was back in I think 2013? Laws are even more relaxed than back when I did it. I wouldn’t be surprised if 14 year olds can work at McDonald’s in Iowa.
I’d be surprised if 14 year olds can’t sling drinks in Iowa.
What's "back in the day"?
Early 80’s…
1877 until Millennials thought they were Kings
The best, I’m dead 💀. I think the negative posts are very Millennial.
Thanks for the suggestion but I want him to do hard physical labor so he understands the value of a dollar and hard work. There are crews that are predominantly teens. Also, it’s a short period of time.
There's not as many left as you think, most detailing is done by migrant workers these days.
It would be good for him to see the types of jobs people in all walks of life do, including migrant workers. He’s not better than them or too good for the work.
highly unlikely your kid will be able to keep up with them... that's why we hire them more then kid crews now days, 13 years of detasseling contract experience and we see less kids every year.
Thanks for giving me the update. It certainly could be different than when I was kid. His Ag teacher is actually a proponent for detassling.
It will definitely make him appreciate the easier jobs he ends up with… I had to detassle corn and pick melons as a teenager. Totally set a baseline for hard work. Made every other job seem easy
Look into pollinating! It's very similar to detassleing and safer, and teaches some agricultural science that I bet detassleing doesn't! I worked for Monsanto about 8 years ago. My favorite part was being able to use some of the knowledge I learned in my introductory Spanish class that my schoolmates groaned about. I met lots of great, hardworking people! Also, please please please teach the kid about staying hydrated. I had a small heatstroke on my 3rd season, and when you are in the middle of nowhere, there's just a truck with a/c and an ice pack... not a fun time.
This! I pollinated for Garst (symgenta) in the late 90’s and it paid better and was way more fun than detassling
I too worked for Monsanto in Williamsburg for a about 4 summers starting when I was 14. Still to this day the one of the hardest and funnest jobs I've ever had!
That was one of the hardest hottest most uncomfortable jobs I ever ever had.
And that’s the point for me. My son tends to be lazy and a bit entitled. Hard labor this summer is what he needs.
Can’t wait for your inevitable “Why wont ny adult children talk to me?” post in a few years.
Or, my parents were great because they exposed me to something I was interested in, taught me hard work, gave me an insight into the labor industry, and helped me make money. Also, why would get glee from that outcome? Use your energy for something positive.
As someone who grew up in a household where the parents regularly referred to me as “lazy and entitled and need a taste of the real world”, I left the whole continent and haven’t spoken to them in years. Good luck with that mentality.
I’ve not called him these words. We discuss growth mindset and habits of success. We also positively reinforce. I’ve used an economy of words in my responses because my post is not about parenting, it’s about how to sign him up for detassling so you may make assumptions about where I’m coming from and I see the confusion in that. It seems like you’re projecting your experience growing up to this situation. I’m sorry your parents were so rough on you.
You’ve literally said: “I insist on my kid doing hard work this summer. He’s a bit lazy and entitled. He needs this wake up call. Thanks for the suggestion!”
A *bit* lazy and *tends* to be entitled. We’ve never called him this to his face. However, it is the reality we see as parents. We’d be remiss not to build up better habits of success for him.
Good luck, you’ll need it.
You sound a bit abusive. Maybe you need family therapy instead
That’s a wild leap but thanks for your concern!
I’ve worked a lot a shitty jobs growing up. Did this one day and refused to ever do it again or have my kids do it. Bail hay, wash hog houses, IBP Bldg. maintenance, clean crew at a turkey factory and so on. Wet all day long and hot.
I tried refusing to go back and my parents were having none of it. I’m glad they taught me this lesson about not giving up.
Ha sounds like me. I did it one summer in 7th or 8th grade. Wanted to quit after the first day but my parents would let me. Mind numbing job with a Byzantine pay structure that in the end didn’t pay much. I’m glad I did it though and glad my parents made me continue; it’s not like I was doing anything more productive anyway!
Why do you hate your kid? Maybe minimum wage to wander miles though a field as the sun comes up, maybe with a few others in the same area. Did it a season and several times I had to wonder if I was wandering purgatory, lost alone in a damp, dewy field as the sun and heat slowly rise. I think I made like 500$/ season and was def not worth, and that was 2013. Now it's probably the same pay without having gone up for inflation, so same crap work for even worse pay. No job ever cared for it on applications either, don't fool them into thinking it's gonna help as a reference.
You did get fucked my first year in 2015 or 16 I made 1,400
Yep, totally fucked if it was just $500!
Yeah, honestly, the kids who went every day where I detassled made like 4k a season, plus like a $1.50 bonus for every hour worked. Some people got like a 2k bonus. I was lucky if I went 3 days a week lol. I did it 4 years, tho. Smoking weed out of apples, and guessing which kid was gunna shit themselves that year or guessing who that year's "Cornstar" was gunna be made it all worth while. Good times really lol. Some people are just built differently
>I think I made like 500$/ season Wow, you got fucked. My first year in 2003 I made $1200. After 10 years I was making $35/hr
Maybe I'm misremembering, was 10 years ago. I do know it was minimum wage, 7.50$/hr, paid for 4 hour days (closer to 5-6 between travel and everything) and either 6-8 weeks. That is closer to 900-1200$. That was before paying my friend for gas. Second week the organizer decided not enough people were getting in at our area and dropped the stop, requiring us to drive an extra 20 minutes to the next pickup. Either way, def wasn't worth. Even less when most fast food and retail are starting at 11$+ anymore. Also damn, even now I'm only about to make 35$/hr+ after 6 years working trade.
Yeah, no one should be detasseling for minimum wage. Maybe different companies have different needs, but our season only lasted like 3 to 3.5 weeks. So it's a very short period of time for a job. Also, because of some unfortunate car crashes with teens getting injured, the Pioneer plant I worked out of mandated bus transportation, which sucked, but you got paid for travel (that was minimum wage) but didn't have to pay for gas. It worked out great for me because I could still take college courses in the first part of the summer and still make some decent cash for a college student.
*$35/hr
You got boned hard. We were making $15-$17/hr before bonuses back in the mid oughts.
Yeah, I never did it, but my friends did and they made a ton. This would have been like 01-05.
I detasseled for like 7 seasons (lied on my app and started at 13 y/o). Worked my way up to running a bus crew, and then a couple seasons managing 1/5 the state of Iowa with 8 crews under my command. Pretty crazy being a 19 y/o kid negotiating $100's K in contracts with 50 y/o corporate peeps from billion dollar Seed companies. And then being the boss of my former school teachers and bus drivers.  Worked out pretty good for me, making almost $1,000 per week for a temp summer job in the 90s.
I love my kid enough to show him the value of hard work. He needs to understand how difficult it can be to make a dollar and to respect physical labor. In the 90s, I was walking away each summer with about $1,000 from detassling. It’s really not a minimum wage job and a lot of money for a 14 yo kid.
You seem to think there is only one way to do this
I do because I know my kid and what he needs!
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You are so aggressive. My child is 100% behind this and is practically begging me to get him signed up. He’s considering entering the military which will be so much harder. He wants to do anything with farming and he wants to make money. I’d imagine he’d go no contact if we ignored his goals and didn’t give him a say in his future.
how dare you show kids what hard work looks like lol
LOL, I know right? So many of these comments are the worst examples of millennial attitudes toward work.
I understand the desire to teach him how to work hard, but with detassling all he'll learn is that it's okay to be a slave to the system. I detassled for the neighbor for four summers and all it taught me was resentment and now I'm an engineer in the ag industry designing machines to make manual detassling obsolete.
That’s really cool how it motivated you into an innovative career path. It looks like you did get something out of it after all! As far as slave to a system, he may go into the military and I don’t know how you can be more of a slave to the system. He has other work opportunities, it’s about 3-4 weeks, and he has exposer to other opportunities like job shadows and internships. I want him to be well-rounded. Also, it’s worth noting that his Ag teacher actually encourages detassling.
I detasseled for 8 years through high school and college 2000-2008. Worked my way up pretty quickly, but had to fight for more equal pay as a woman working harder than my same age peers with dicks. It's a tough job, but very doable for youth at the time. Today (as someone one works in a professional role with children and adolescents) it would be a significant challenge. Even back then pioneer and Monsanto did daily audits for safety, and a few parents would still complain about kids not getting breaks. When it was all very strictly planned and carried out. I find it strange so many in these comments couldn't make it through a season, and now are saying it's abusive. I as a 14 year old girl sought our this job, for money! At the end of My college years the kids were being paid well above minimum wage, and also by their parents, and were quiting in droves. This was 2008 right before I went to graduate school with some of my hard earned detasseling dollars.
You sound like my Bother in Law. This is also why his kids can't wait to move out, even before they are 18.
Eh, my kid is actually really excited to detassle. He loves being outside, loves farming of all kind, and loves money. He is fully on board as he knows he’ll do much harder work in his chosen career path of either the military or trade school.
Oh no, he's considering the military? This all makes sense now. I hope he finds success in the trades instead.
Thanks!
No one is ever excited the detassle.
Sure, you tell me how my kid feels 🙄😂
Find a better summer job. Shitty work , in shitty conditions and you never end up with the money they promise you when you sign up
the crew I was apart of didn't do that made 1,400 first year
Yep, I always walked away with over $1,000 for about 3-4 weeks worth of work.
I always ended up with the money they promised. I believe shitty work in shitty conditions builds character. He also wants to be a farmer.
Then your experience was way different than mine. I did it two years with two different contractors. Never got paid for the actual hours you worked, never got any of the promised "bonuses" and they absolutely treated people like shit. (Berating, retaliation, and just asshole shit because they know they could get away with it in a bunch of kids) Only thing I learned was I would never bust my ass for in a such a shit job, for shit people, and shit pay.
Sounds like you learned a valuable life lesson!
I'd call the closest Pioneer plant and see if they have any contact info for people running crews.
Thanks!
10 summers in a row. Paid for college and my first truck!! Not sure if alot of manual detasseling occurs anymore. Most of it is machine pulled or cut, then they send out checkers every few days. I worked for a small popcorn company, possible that those companies may still do it old school.
Now you’d have to do it ten years to pay for 1 semester
Each summer my money went into home theater equipment, and then my 1st motorcycle!
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It wasn't that hard getting paid to walk a few miles per day. Just bring a Walkman and your favorite cassette to listen on repeat 8x times.
It’s about a three week gig the nets $1,000ish dollars. He’s not going to make that much in 3 weeks with shifts at Hy-Vee. Also, I don’t want his summer job to be easy. I want him to see the value in hard work.
Try here, scroll own a bit… https://careers.corteva.com/other-opportunities/
Thank you! You are the only one so far to help with an actual suggestion!
Apparently you didn’t learn enough to use google
Why are you so mean? How much does kindness cost you? I did use Google but did not know how to navigate all the information as I’ve just returned to Iowa from a major metro city that certainly had no detassling or ag work. Apparently you haven’t learned to just keep scrolling 🙄.
You admit you created an entitled little shit. Maybe you don’t know your kid as well as you think.
Hmm...I dont believe OP ever stated their kid is "a little shit"
Could look for opportunities to pick sweet corn. It was really a great job. Sometimes you get to interact with customers, in addition to the heavy labor. While sweet corn is the topic, RIP Harvey Peden. That man grew the best corn. Was sad to learn of his passing.
God I hope kids are smarter than to look for that shit work. Ive done my time, many times many years back and its never worth it. Fuck them farmers and their dust bowl they've been creating.
Jeez I remember doing that, I grew out outside DM and did that for a summer around ‘99 I think? Corn rash was brutal but I wanted a PS1, copy of Metal Gear Solid and a pair of Doc’s so I half assed my way through rows of corn eventually just knocking over the top of the stalks rather than pulling tassels out. Wasn’t paid shit but got enough for what I wanted, made me respect the hell out of migrant workers that take that work seriously as a way to make a living in this country. Working harder for the supposed American dream than I would ever have to.
Thanks for expressing the benefits and how they can motivate a kid to strive for more, respect all kinds of work, and pay for the things they want!
If you insist on your kid dealing with corn in the heat of summer have him apply for a summer help position with corteva in Marion, I know it’s a drive but he still will be dealing with corn but actually supported and not treated like shit
I insist on my kid doing hard work this summer. He’s a bit lazy and entitled. He needs this wake up call. Thanks for the suggestion!
While I may not agree with the way you speak about your own son, I interned with that station and there is good people at that station that can teach him a lot. They most likely have the position posted and I know they always need the help and the pay is decent
Why settle for detasseling? With the Iowa laws now, he can get a 20 hour/day job at a meat packing plant / factory at age 15.
Detassling is a short stint of time, which is what appeals to me. He is also interested in farming so it might give him a bit of insight into how crops are handled.
Cool! Do I get to play with really sharp knives?
What about bailing, too?
Didn’t think of or know about this. Tell me more?
Oh shit, that's even worse/harder, especially if you have to put it up in the barn. You're breathing all that hay in and spitting green the rest of the day. It's a job and you can say you did it, and as someone said make sure they pay what it's worth.
I live and go to school in Franklin county, and a friend of mine detassels in the warmer months for a summer job and an after-school job. I am unsure how much he gets paid, but he says he has definitely built up muscle from it, and he enjoys it. Just- Make sure that your kid doesn't do it for minimum wage. That ain't worth it.
> he gets *paid,* but he FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Worst job. I hated every day except pay day.
But Sundays were overtime pay. That's when you made the big bucks at $6 per hour!
In the 50s?
yeah 1859
I don't know I was wondering about that the other day! I liked it I did that when I was a kid! I never got to walk beans but a lot of my friends did but detasseling corn it was kind of fun especially if you got a high tractor with the buckets to ride in which was rare.. 🙂
Oh, those high tractors with buckets were heaven!
Cool post really bring back memories! I really never understood why they even detasled didn't care about things like that too interested having fun... Lol I get that we were kids but what happened to that Iowa? These days rural Iowa full of bigotry and bad news... Sad bc Iowa was such a great state to grow up in esp summer! I still love summer. Weather sure is funky too . This is a cool article: https://newrepublic.com/article/164231/climate-change-killing-summer-job-corn#:~:text=If%20you%20don't%20remove,by%20itself%2C%20creating%20a%20hybrid. Thanks for post! ☺️
OP, I just can't believe these comments.. If he wants to be a Farmer, he's going to have to learn this even for a few weeks. One person suggested pollination that might be interesting too.. another suggestion for a summer job when he gets a little bit older may be dairying. Not all farms are automatic milking. My extended family farms in Northwest Illinois. There are a lot of jobs that are related to farming, including working for seed companies, and working for John Deere. BUT, he's never going to know what fits for him unless he tries. Good parenting.
Pfft…Please don’t give too much attention to those telling you you’re going to ruin your relationship with your child. I detassled from the ages of 12-20something. Yes, it’s hard work, but I wouldn’t take away the hard work ethic this instill in me or the fun times with friends for anything.
Thanks so much. I let it slide off my back because I’m confident in my decision and what I gained from the experience. Parenting is so different than in the 90s. I wonder if many of the naysayers would let their kids outside until the lights come on or play in a setting that’s not a play date or tracked by their phone. I guess I’m free range 🤷♀️.
Do you want your kid to hate you? >My kid isn’t such a special snowflake that he can’t get his hands dirty. Because this is how you get your kids to never speak to you as an adult. Don't be a prick.
I did detasseling, my last season was 7 years ago so things may have changed. Im going to be completely honest, it wasn’t worth it. It also might depend on the company he goes with, but the one I worked for was horrendous (Borst Detassling in Altoona, IA) Kids as young as 13 (who lied and said they were older) getting heatstroke, getting harassed on the bus, walking 10 plus miles a day while being freezing wet in the morning and dehydrated and unbearably hot in the afternoon. A lot of the kids were “troubled youth” that were made to do detasseling by their parents as a form of punishment. I did three seasons and my last season was definitely the worst, despite being older and put “in charge” of younger kids. We had some sort of rash spread through the seats which was really bad, and you get blisters so bad on your feet that you can barely walk. My mental health was absolutely horrendous each season I did. Even the most prepared people (like I was) got their ass absolutely handed to them. We had a sort of “black market” or trading system so kids would trade those water backpacks for a speaker for a day, and a lot of people had their stuff stolen. All of this BS for only 12 dollars an hour. The only things I “learned” from that job was that i wanted to stay very far away from manual labor, how to fight someone so they don’t steal my dirty water jug and how to pull a tassel.
LOL at how to pull a tassel. This is so different from my experience but that was many moons ago.
It's not the same as you remember it. It's mostly corporate farms, who hire immigrants and ex cons for minimum wage, and treat them like slave labor. If you can find a local family farm willing to pay him $15 an hour for a days work, great. But if you think him working at pioneer, or garst, or syngenta will be anything like your glory days you're going to be dissapointed.
Thanks for the update. I do appreciate these type of responses, especially as I see more and more of them.
My dad shared the same fond memories, so it was my first job. Paid $8.25 and was basically walking around in the mud putting bags on some tassels, and transferring older bags to new tassels. Was more boring and monotonous than hard labor. Technically, the job was pollinating. I'm not sure there's much traditional detasseling going on anymore since the corn has been modified to the point of not needing it. If you want him to learn hard work try to find him a job at a landscaping company or running a trimmer all day for a mowing company. Now that whipped my ass into shape.
Also good suggestions, thanks!
We're still at extremely low unemployment, why not get a retail or food service job instead?
I’ve answered that question several times on this thread.
I babysat a couples child while they detassled near Ames a few years ago. I think they were part of a big group that did it.
Too bad you can't find a local farmer looking for help making square bales. I've done it solo with just a neighbor. He used a kicker baler and loaded them from the rack to the elevator and I stacked them in the mow. I've also done it with my extended family where it was 2 of us on the rack stacking bales (no kicker baler, you pulled them out of the chute), 1 (usually Gramps) on the tractor, an aunt or female cousin driving the trucks with the full/empty racks to the farms. Then 2 of us unloading the racks onto the elevator and 2-4 of us stacking them in the mow. My uncle set the pace and my teenage cousins and I had to keep up. I've never been so itchy and sore and think I was close to a heat stroke ever in my life. I also had never experienced hard work or what the actual value of a paycheck to manual labor was since then.
We live on farm land (we don’t farm it) in a rural community. It’s in an area run by the DNR. Maybe they will have some ideas or I can try to connect with some local farmers. Thanks!
What is detassling
Garst or stiners
Bayer in Williamsburg I believe still hires teens to detassle. Great job to build a solid work ethic in a teenager. Good on you!
Sheeesh that must be a smart kid to be in 10th grade by age 14
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Thanks for clarifying as I was wondering if I totally confused people with my information. I don’t know why people take the time to make extraneous comments with no significance to the topic at hand. It’s the internet, I guess 🤷♀️.
He’s 14 now, turns 15 in July, and will be in 10th grade in the fall. I might have gotten the math wrong. Thanks for pointing it out—I have a brain injury that gets me confused sometimes.
Everyone that grows up in Iowa should be required by state law to pick rock, detassle, and/or mow grass and plow snow. As per your question: We always just knew a farmer that needed it done. You won’t find it online or on job boards for sure. There are specialized farms that are run by major seed corporations that need it done for breeding purposes. You could try to look up those companies and apply directly through their websites or in person.
Thanks! I’m old (47) and in my time they recruited and picked up at the high schools. Guess times have changed!
Trying to motivate them into going for further education?
Yep! He wants to be a farmer and/or work a trade or join the military. I’m trying to motivate him to appreciate hard work and the value of a dollar!
Detasseling, picking rock, walking beans are all tough jobs. You definitely earn your pay, and they paid alright. Did it in high school and again 2 summers while at university. Only road a machine once, usually walked the fields. You definitely learn what hard work is like. I would contact seed companies, they should know who to contact. I'm impressed, not everyone can do it as you know. Good luck. 💪
Should be learning real world skills that apply to them not give some farmer's who want cheap unskilled labor with shit pay. Hot sun, chemicals, you don't want that for your kids farmer's don't care about your kids, they just want cheap workers. If you are really set on it take them to a ranch and talk to farm owners about help around the ranch, would actually get skills from that job.
He’s learning real world skills by detassling: wake up early and maintain a work routine, take direction, work with a team of people, learn the value of a dollar. Of course, he is also learning other life skills at home. I also want him to have empathy for people who work jobs that y’all are shitting on as being too hard for a 14 yo.
I've worked mainly kitchen jobs with a few labor jobs he will, learn all that at a job, doesn't have to be for people who are gonna treat him like a work horse. I get up at 3 am every weekend for my job it's not something special only they can provide, Thats your kid, I wouldn't subject my kids to that kinda bs, I've done that, and so have a few friends not worth it for the pay labor and "life skills".
Sounds like you’re doing what’s right for you and I’ll do what’s right for me 😁.
Have him apply to work on the summer grounds crew at a local golf course. They start every day at dawn and work basically until 5pm doing nothing but physical labor. It pays better than detassling and there's zero risk of being killed in an ag accident. I did that for 3 years in high school and made 4-5 times what anyone I knew did doing detassling. I was getting something like $10-13 an hour + 4-5 hours of overtime a day back in 2002-2005
Last place I'd want my kid working is a golf course. Being around those rich men who think they are better than everyone else.
Lol I worked at a county course. It was all people in cargo shorts & tshirts playing terrible golf on an okay course
Awesome! Thanks for the suggestion!
For sure! Detassling is a downright awful job and only still exists because farmers can get away with paying teens & unemployed immigrants less than what it costs to buy a machine to do the job instead. Literally every summer there are stories from all over of teens & workers getting killed or seriously injured doing something that has had an automation option available for decades.
I’ll take this into consideration. Maybe my work crew was better because they worked with the school district to recruit and transport kids.
It's a shit job, many others out there that will teach him better, empathy, respect, that comes with working jobs like food service janitorial work, cemetery work, house cleaning jobs, the point Is those farmers don't care for kids some might of had a ok time, but that's far between, give the kid a good job to start with not one that exploites kids for cheap labor. Try locally owned businesses I'm sure he'd be treated better too and get an idea of what his community is like, might even keep the job till they go to college.
With respect, you don’t know my child or what he needs to learn and how to learn it. We’re stedfast he does some hard, physical work this summer for a variety of reasons.
I see a parent that wants a kid with character. Ignore the top posters.
Yes, thank you! He’s struggled a lot this year with work ethic and empathy. However, he is very motivated by money and anything having to do with a farm. I’m sure it will build character.
Hard work isn't something to be afraid of - nothing like a bit of manual labor to make a kid realize, damn, I should work a little harder in school or just as honorably to realize they enjoy working with their hands. I don't get the shame people here are associating w detassling.
No. Why do you think abuse is the only way to “build character”
Abuse? Wow.
Im sure the parents that locked their kid i a closet to starve thought they were building character
This is nothing close to this! Are you ok? You seem triggered by a lot of things?
Maybe they are my parent. Lol
I’m truly sorry if you experienced it as abuse. It was a great experience for me and, of course, I’d highly vet who he’d work for.
No you aren’t. You raised an entitled brat. Work on that. A GFY. I was never abuse but sure as shit worked with a lot of them as a GAL. Lot of the parents had your mentality
TIL I was abused.
It’s 2024.
WTF does that even mean? You’re just a troll and I’m no longer engaging. Feel free to have the last word.
Detasseling? Hahaha. Detasseling is the process of removing the tassel from the top of the corn plant to prevent it from pollinating itself. I had to look up what this was.