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It looks like it will be a good summer for sweet corn lovers.
"There will be lots of sweet corn this year," said Gary Long, who plants 8 acres of the summer staple in Sinking Valley.
"The sweet corn crop is slightly ahead of last year," said Thomas G. Ford, commercial horticulture educator with Penn State Extension's Cambria County office.
Amish farmers in Sinking Valley should be among those with early corn, Long said, because they planted their crop under plastic about the first week of April.
"They will have sweet corn by the Fourth of July," Long predicted.
Long's prediction made earlier this month came true, as locally grown sweet corn popped up this week at Martin's Garden Center on Route 453 and at Village Pantry in Tyrone.
Sweet corn is big business in Pennsylvania.
As of 2018, there were 1,672 Pennsylvania farms that grew sweet corn, producing 67.67 million pounds of sweet corn per year with a value estimated at $24.75 million. Pennsylvania ranks 10th in the United States for acres of sweet corn harvested at 11,514 acres, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
"As a staple of summertime, sweet corn is a very important crop for many Pennsylvania farms that sell produce direct to consumers," said Liam Migdail, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau. "Many families look forward to local sweet corn in the summer so many local farm markets make sure to keep it stocked, either by growing their own or selling sweet corn grown by other, nearby farms," he said.
Despite Ford's prediction, many area growers don't expect their sweet corn to be ready until mid or late July.
"My corn will be ready around the middle of July. I just plant on bare ground and don't use plastic," said Sam Weyant, owner of Sam Weyant Berry and Vegetable Farms, Claysburg. "We had a cold April and May, so I lost some time," he said, noting that he planted April 12 and then the weather turned cold and it snowed. "You lose a week here and there and it shows up," he said.
Sweet corn will be later than last year at Baronner's Farm Market in Hollidaysburg.
"We traditionally have our corn ready around July 20-21. It could be a little later; people should call the market and the answering machine will be updated," said co-owner Kelly Baronner, who said the weather has been a challenge this year.
"We have had some extreme hot and cold weather. It was dry, then wet. It was a challenge to get the plantings in," Baronner said, noting that "cool nights slow down the corn."
Long also said his corn will be a bit later than usual and expects to have some ready by July 25.
"I am about five days to a week late. The temperatures were cold and to put sweet corn in it is getting very expensive. I waited until it was a little warmer to plant," he said.
While Long said he usually plants between April 10-15, this year he didn't get the crop in the ground until April 19.
The return to cold weather didn't help, he said.
"The first week of May we had some sleet and freezing rain. That is hard on the corn," Long said. "We had some days in the 40s and I lost some corn because of the cold weather."
Long said corn grows best when temperatures are 50 degrees and higher. "Below 50, it does not grow," he said.
In addition to weather issues, there have been some problems with pests.
"Pest pressure has been a little higher than normal (mainly corn earworm) so growers are needing to spray a bit more frequently than what they normally would be," Ford said.
Despite the challenges farmers face, growers expect to have good quality corn this year.
"Sweet corn quality should be good and we have not seen any major production issues this year. We have had ample rainfall and growers have not needed to irrigate their crop, which saves them a little money," Ford said.
"All of my corn looks good, the plantings are good," Weyant said. "I expect a good crop."
The June weather has been more cooperative.
"Right now, the weather is about as good as it gets," Long said. "We are getting both heat and water. It is growing very well."
Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 814-946-7467.