Why Detassel There's a reason why more than 200 youths got out of bed at 5 a.m., put on their worst clothes and weren't afraid of tiring work in a steamy cornfield northeast of Inland.
Money is life.
Detasseling season in the area opened Friday. For Tony and two of his friends, McKayla Clancy and Travis Hill, both 12 and of Hastings, it was their first try at it. But the day will come when they will have to walk. They'll walk shorter fields to avoid bending over on the carriers. Kids willing to work in fields where the temperature can be 10 degrees higher and mud covers their ankles is purely a matter of economics, said Mike Rader of Rader Detasseling at Trumbull.