Rossville Tall Corn Winner Measured at Over 18 Feet

Tall corn could certainly be found at the Rossville Tall Corn Festival in Rossville, Kansas Friday night. Casey Perkins, Topeka, won the Tall Corn Contest with a garden-grown stalk that measured 18 feet, two inches. Perkins also won in 2013 and 2012. Jacob Gentry of Rossville won the youth division with a stalk grown on the Gentry farm that measured 12 feet, eight inches.

The 2014 contest marked Perkins’ third consecutive win at the Rossville Tall Corn Contest. Perkins also won the tall corn title at the Iowa State Fair this year for the third year with a stalk that measured 18 feet, 4 inches.

“It is fun to see what people can come up with their gardens as well as in the corn fields on our Kansas farms. Casey works very hard to grow his tall corn every year in his garden. Our youth winner’s entry was also very impressive for a farm-grown stalk of corn,” Kansas Corn Commission Communications Director Sue Schulte said. “1997 was one of the first years I helped with this contest. A gentleman won with a garden-grown stalk that measured almost 21 feet. When we stood it up, we had to watch out for a power line.”

Schulte and the Kansas Corn mascot Captain Cornelius, presented the awards. The contest is sponsored by the Kansas Corn Commission. Rossville, located in the fertile Kaw River Valley, has held the festival to celebrate its tall corn for over 80 years.