While most people have spent the summer trying to adjust to living during a pandemic, farmers in the area have been trying to adjust to a season that saw a collection of obstacles and hardships caused by the weather and by animals.
Connecticut is one of seven states that has experienced its hottest July on record, according to the July 2020 National Climate Report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The heat has created challenges for Tri-state farmers.
“The drought has been terrible,” said Bruce Howden, owner of Howden Farm in Sheffield, Mass.
One acre of his ears of corn never got large enough to sell, he said. Recent storms have also destroyed some of his crops.
A little less than 20 miles south of Howden, Paley’s Farm Market in Sharon, is having similar struggles with their sweet corn.
“We plant two varieties of sweet corn,” Paley’s co-owner Chris Coon said. “While we did get some [of the early variety,] the yields were way off — I mean, probably less than half of what we would have hoped to have.”
Coon said the other variety of sweet corn, which is starting to ripen now, does not seem to have the same problem, possibly due to being planted in shadier fields.
In preparation for a dry year, Coon said he planted sweet corn in fields near the neighboring Webatuck Creek, which typically gets more water than the fields that can be seen from Route 343.
Theresea Freund of Freund’s Farm Market in East Canaan said their problems lie with their tomatoes, not their sweet corn.
“This year we’re having a great corn year, because it’s great corn weather. But what works for the corn doesn’t always make the tomatoes happy,” Freund said. “The tomatoes do not like high humidity and rain, which is one of the reasons why we’ve converted our tomatoes to greenhouse production.”
Another problem farms have to face is the threat of pests such as birds and deer. Deer leave behind half-eaten ears of corn. Birds eat the tassels, or the male part of the plant, resulting in an inability to form ears.
Bears have also become a problem over the last few years according to all three farmers. The bears wander into corn fields and flatten multiple crops at a time by rolling on top of them.
“We need to speak to our congressmen to get them to expand the bear [hunting] season in Massachusetts,” said Howden. “That will help.”
Despite the weather and animal intruders, all three farms have produced seasonal sweet corn. Paley’s and Freund’s corn will be sold at their stores, with Freund’s also selling wholesale to LaBonne’s Market in Salisbury.
While he is still considering selling his corn in Salisbury at the farm market as in past years, for now Howden said he will sell his corn only at his farm on Ashley Falls Road.
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August 19, 2020 at 11:11PM
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Heat (and bears) hurt this summer's sweet corn | TriCorner News - Tri Corner News
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