detasseling

Contractors say they have enough local labor to detassel Nebraska’s seed corn but they’re losing work to migrant workers on H-2A visas. A 2024 law attempted to increase transparency in detasseling.

Efforts to open silica mines in southeast Missouri are bringing back memories of toxic lead mining that scarred the region centuries ago. Plus, a Midwest "rite of passage" that was predominantly done by teenagers has changed as seed companies shift jobs to migrant workers.

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 do this work through a visa program meant to supplement the local workforce.