Having spent much of my Midwestern childhood driving through — and occasionally, unfortunately, stopping in — Iowa, I know firsthand how seriously the Hawkeye state takes its corn. It is, I would venture to say, Iowa’s defining characteristic. And, frankly, good for them. Who doesn’t love a good ear of corn now and again?

What baffles me, however, is this series of tweets from Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, boasting about his big tall mutant stalks. Here’s Tweet one, posted on July 3rd, featuring the octogenarian lawmaker posing triumphantly in his own personal field of dreams.