Sweet corn yield suffers as dry weather takes toll
Nelson Zandbergen
Farmers Forum
INGLESIDE — Amid a parched summer that left much of Eastern Ontario begging for rain, sweet corn producers reported mixed results, with some facing smaller cobs, reduced yields and even bird invasions as the drought took its toll.
At Seven Acres Family Farm at Ingleside, co-owner Greg Rombough described the season as “very discouraging for sure.” After 32 years of growing sweet corn, Rombough reported never seeing a year like this. “Things are dry. It’s hard to keep things watered … and things have not developed as they should,” he said.
Rombough estimated his sweet corn yield at about half of normal, further diminished by persistent bird damage. “The other field crops are not developing, so the birds are not moving on (from the corn), so they continue to stick around and eat the good stuff,” he explained.
Because of lower yields, the farm stopped supplying local grocery stores to prioritize its own farmgate sales. This year’s harvest started four to five days late on the farm’s seven acres of sweet corn featuring several varieties. While cobs from irrigated patches look “pretty good,” the cobs overall this year were a little smaller and “not as tasty, but still pretty good,” he said.
Rombough said the farm moves reel irrigation across 50 acres of crops including squash and pumpkins. In the dry conditions, “you just don’t stop … and you can’t keep up,” he said.
Corn sells for $8 a baker’s dozen at the farm.
At Dentz Orchards and Berry Farm at Iroquois, co-owner Cathy Dentz said the drought had a noticeable impact on the farm’s sweet corn, which is not irrigated, as the summer progressed.
The Dentz operation plants sweet corn every two weeks to keep an ongoing supply for farmgate sales through the season. While earlier pollinated ears were “bigger and better and more filled out,” Dentz noted that the cobs got smaller with more recent pickings. “They still taste great” and remain “juicy,” she added.
A recent rainfall received one day the previous week was “really welcome,” she noted, adding that this year’s challenging weather also affects the field tomato crop. The tomatoes in the field were at least two weeks behind in maturity because of the cold wet, spring followed by the extreme heat of this summer.
The Dentz family’s sweet corn prices have remained unchanged for three years despite rising input costs: a dozen for $10.50, half dozen for $5.75 and $1 per cob.
Not all growers felt the pinch equally. At Cheer Farms in Brighton, co-owner Kimberly Cheer reported a solid season with “really nice sweet corn.” Growing close to 20 years without irrigation, the farm takes “it as Mother Nature gives it to us,” she said.
The Cheers’ sweet corn harvest began just “one day later than we were last year,” she said, and the farm benefited from brief, timely showers. “Half an hour here, 20 minutes there.”
Flavour remains strong, drawing “repeat customers, sometimes daily,” Cheer said, adding that field tomatoes were ripening “right on time” and with plenty coming in.
Cheer sells corn at $12 per dozen, $6 for half and $1.25 per cob.
