Popular CornCam Returns, Joined by SoybeanCam and DairyCam

East Central Iowa farmers Jim and Sharon Greif have once again offered a portion of their farm for public viewing. In an on-line version of "if you build it, they will come," the Greifs are partnering with Iowa Farmer Today and the trademarked CornCam to post photos of their corn plot on the Internet.

The site photo is updated every 15 minutes during daylight throughout the growing season. Last year, when the continuously photographed corn plot was first posted on the Internet, hundreds of thousands of visitors came to the Greif's virtual "field of dreams." More than 8,000 of them sent messages via the site's Ear-mail option. For those who think watching corn grow is about as exciting as watching paint dry, read the visitor messages or reporter Dan Zinkand's compelling story of a 5-year-old Connecticut boy's visit to the corn field. The web site address is http://www.iowafarmer.com/.

This year, the Greifs planted soybeans in last year's corn plot. You can monitor these plants' progress thanks to Iowa Farmer Today's SoybeanCam. And why stop with crops when you can see cows, too? A web camera – DairyCam – has been installed on a dairy farm in collaboration with Northeast Iowa Community College. Visitors can watch cows being milked and find links to lots of dairy-related web sites, including recipes for refreshing smoothies.

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Seeds for Success A Biannual Newsletter on Agriculture in the Classroom