World's Largest Corn Stalk

The City of Shelby's tourism page lists the Agri-Symbol, a 76-foot steel sculpture beside the Interstate 80 exit at Shelby, in southwest Iowa, promoted as the World's Largest Corn Stalk. According to the City of Shelby, it symbolizes the importance of agriculture and of the people who work the land, and it highlights the main commodities of area farmers: corn, beef and pork. The city says sculptor Cliff Carlson of Wesley, Iowa, was commissioned to design the work, at a cost of nearly $14,000. A 2019 Silly America roadside-attractions post describes the usual leaves and ears of the stalk as replaced by outlines of corn, pigs and cows, and gives a dedication date of September 16, 1978. The Shelby County tourism website describes the sculpture as surrounded by a garden with a gazebo. The "World's Largest" name comes from listings on novelty websites, which the city's page cites. A 2020 Iowa History Journal article places it in Agri-Symbol Park, along the interstate exit.