Ontario corn sees solid 2018 supplies

“This year is actually a fantastic crop. We have ample supply which is purposeful but also weather does help impact that. We’ve had really good conditions on our farm to support the product we put in the ground,” says Brenda Snyder of Snyder’s Sweet Corn in Caledonia, On.

This year, Snyder’s has grown just below 80 acres and began its season July 20th. Last year, the farm grew some 60-65 acres and the season began almost a week later. “Last year was a very challenging season,” says Snyder. “We had some unique weather happening in our region during the 2017 growing season. We got hit by some major storms mid-summer that caused trauma to our later sweet corn. We had a difficult spring in that it was wet and cold and it was a challenge to get the corn planted in the timeframe that it needed to be. 2017 was also not a sunny summer so we had to wait patiently for the crop to ripen.”

This year though is the opposite, which has created a more consistent corn supply for Snyder’s, who made the transition in 2017 to selling their sweet corn only at its farm stand which is located along the banks of the Grand River across from the village of York. “We only sell what's ‘Fresh Picked Today’. But we don’t want to waste what’s left, so six years ago we partnered with the Hamilton Food Share. A few times a week they pick up whatever we weren’t able to sell, and they distribute it to those who are having difficulty making ends meet,” says Snyder.

Along with expanding its acreage and trying to better match production to sales projections, Snyder’s invested in a sub-surface drip irrigation system on its farm. “This allows us to be more intentional when managing our resources and our crop needs; sweet corn a very weather dependent crop,” says Snyder. “It’s been hot and while we need heat units to make the corn ripe and sweet, you have to have the right combination of heat and moisture. With over half of our sweet corn acres now under drip water management we are able to better complement the heat by providing the corn with adequate moisture right at the roots.”

However if the heat continues in the province, it could cause the corn crops to stack a bit. “And if the weather in August is like the kind of heat we had in July, it could impact our Labour Day projections of when our season should begin wrapping up,” says Snyder.