Came across this myself the other day, it was in the 4k1 pregen map. That crack a book was in the burnt forest hub city, it had 3 live stalks of corn in it.
Yeh, it's decor for the stage; it looks like they've been hosting some plays there, perhaps. Or it's "just" a play area, either way, decors for the kids. Dead or alive, isn't the biggest logical break in this game...
Oh, that's interesting. Well, I guess not terrible. A real ear of corn would be stable and last a long time in that kind of setting. Now if it regrows there in the store, that would be really weird.
Yeah, it is just decoration for the stage. Nothing unrealistic about that. Most would probably use dead stalks for that, but if you are in farm country, relaxing with new stalks as needed isn't a big deal during growing season.