Think lawn clipping soup.

It would, however, after more skimming and lots of evaporation, become something sweet and delicious.

Sorghum syrup.

Westrum and Phil Larson, of Webster City, were demonstrating the process at the West Central Region Cockshutt and Co-op Club Threshing Bee on Saturday.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Natalie Murray, 12, of Stanhope, at left, along with Liam Larson, 11, of Homer, feed sorghum stalks into the crusher during a sorghum syrup making demonstration Saturday at the West Central Region Cockshutt and Co-op Club Threshing Bee.

Unlike molasses, which is a byproduct of sugar production, sorghum syrup is produced directly from the plants.

“It’s bred and selected for its sugar content,” he said.

The process is very much the same as making maple syrup. The sorghum stalks are crushed, the juice is collected, the liquid is then boiled down to concentrate it.

Once the sweet stuff is done?

“I eat it on pancakes and French toast,” Larson said. “It’s wonderful in baked beans.”

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Liam Larson, 11, of Homer, feeds sorghum stalks into the crusher Saturday while helping to demonstrate the process of turning the plant's juice into syrup at the West Central Region Cockshutt and Co-op Club Threshing Bee in Homer.

Both men come from a long family history of making the syrup.

“My folks grew cane, their folks grew cane; it’s a family tradition,” Westrum said.

Cooking the juice is actually the easy part. Harvesting is a bit tougher.

The men got some help from Liam Larson, 11, of Homer, and Natalie Murray, 12, of Stanhope.

“I’m having fun and learning,” Liam Larson said.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Sorghum juice is collected in a bucket Saturday during a syrup making demonstration at the West Central Region Cockshutt and Co-op Club Threshing Bee in Homer.

“He’s my chief tractor driver,” Phil Larson, his grandfather, added.

The demonstration is on its second year at the threshing bee, which also featured lots of equipment on display and, of course, threshing.

Polly Doolittle, of Webster City, was watching the hot itchy work.

“Lots of memories,” she said. “The men would be working and all the women would make all the iced tea and food and have it ready for lunch. We had a big oak tree; there was a table and a mirror under it. They would all wash up and comb their hair before eating.”

While she didn’t get to do any actual threshing, she still worked.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Phil Larson, of Webster City, helps Natalie Murray, 12, of Stanhope, get a bundle of sorghum stalks ready to feed into the crusher Saturday while they demonstrated the process of turning sorghum juice into syrup at the West Central Region Cockshutt and Co-op Club Threshing Bee in Homer.

“I remember walking beans and detasseling,” she said. “Those breaks were always good.”

April Patten, of Boone, was among the club members up in the hay wagon pitching hay into the threshing machine.

She gladly confirmed, it’s an itchy job — and a cold shower after the long day is a great relief.

“You get your exercise,” she said. “Or a heatstroke.”

Theodore Shelton, 8, of Fort Dodge, got to help his grandfather, Mike Shelton, of Duncombe, with shelling corn.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Theodore Shelton, 8, of Fort Dodge, tosses a corn cob out the end of the wagon into a basket Saturday while helping his grandfather, Mike Shelton, of Duncombe, shuck corn at the West Central Region Cockshutt and Co-op Club Threshing Bee in Homer.

His job was to take the cobs out of the wagon and make sure they got into a couple of old-fashioned baskets.

He gets to help around the home place, too, where a bit of misadventure found him.

“We had this really mean chicken,” he said. “It grabbed me.”

Fortunately, it didn’t end up in the soup pot.

“We just sold it.” he said.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Kurt Soderstrum, of Luther, sings and plays with the High Trestle Rollers Saturday during the West Central Region Cockshutt and Co-op Club Threshing Bee in Homer. The group kept the crowd entertained.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Jon Bonner, of Vincent, took a short nap Saturday afternoon at the West Central Region Cockshutt and Co-op Club Threshing Bee in Homer. Bonner demonstrated his black powder powered log splitter at the event.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Mike Shelton, of Duncombe, works on putting a new belt paddle on an antique corn shelling machine Saturday at the West Central Region Cockshutt and Co-op Club Threshing Bee in Homer.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
George Schultz, of Fort Dodge, took advantage of a tall front-end loader on display to get a great overall view Saturday during the West Central Region Cockshutt and Co-op Club Threshing Bee in Homer.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
April Patten, of Boone, endures the heat and the itchy dust Saturday to help thresh grain at the West Central Region Cockshutt and Co-op Club Threshing Bee in Homer.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
April Patten, of Boone, works through the heat and itchy dust Saturday to help feed the threshing machine at the West Central Region Cockshutt and Co-op Club Threshing Bee in Homer.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Whirling wheels and fast-moving belts spin on the antique threshing machine Saturday at the West Central Region Cockshutt and Co-op Club Threshing Bee in Homer. The machine was built in an era before safety devices were required on pretty much anything.