WESTERN ONTARIO: Sweet corn, sweet sales

DUNNVILLE — COVID-19 hasn’t soured sweet corn season.
Although a summer dry spell and labour shortages have caused some problems, growers say the global pandemic only seems to have spurred demand for fresh local produce, especially if it can be purchased from a farm market or traditional roadside stand.
“Demand this year has been out of this world. Communities we are selling in have stepped right up. When people get to know their farmer, there is a sense of trust,” said John Richardson, who runs a produce farm and farm market near Dunnville.
With consumers wary of shopping in large grocery stores, he said outdoor farmers markets, roadside stands and smaller produce stores are an attractive alternative during the pandemic.
“People were looking for a trusted source. It really made us proud to be farmers this year,” said Richardson, whose family farm goes back seven generations.
Richardson also had an “excellent” growing season for his 35 acres.
He said a hot dry spell in July affected pollination, but he said he is thankful to have an irrigation system fed from the Grand River, which helped him overcome the drought. He said sweet corn is more difficult to manage than grain corn. He grows seven varieties and planting has to be staggered to ensure a steady supply from mid-June into October. Cosmetics is also an issue when you sell directly to the public. “If the birds take five per cent of the cob on field corn, that’s all you lose. But if they take just two kernels on sweet corn, you lose the whole cob,” he said.
Richardson said labour was also an issue because of tighter immigration rules. He normally hires five labourers from Mexico but only three were able to make it this year. He had to supplement by hiring some local students.
Labour was a big problem at Welsh Bros. Farms near Scotland, south of Brantford.Charles Welsh, who runs the farm with his uncle Peter and cousin Chris said the farm’s big crop of sweet corn is all hand-picked but labour was in such short supply this year they had to cut back on the usual planting of 600 acres.
“It was the most stressful year we have ever had,” said Welsh whose ancestors emigrated from Scotland and founded the farm 164 years ago.
Although the farm has an irrigation system, he said the extreme heat was still a problem.
“Yields were down a bit because it was too hot and dry. When you get the plus 30 C weather it won’t pollinate properly,” he said.
The farm sells directly to consumers and at farmers’ markets. Welsh said demand was good with more people cooking at home. “I think people were eating more corn at home, around the barbecue.”
It was a similar story this year at Thames River Melons, east of Woodstock, where Alex Chesney helps her father Rob run the 500-acre fruit and vegetable farm. Sales were strong, Chesney said. “I think people were searching for alternative shopping options. People didn’t want to go to grocery stores if they didn’t have to.”