How sweet it is: After a wet spring, sweet corn season finally is here

“Rain, Rain, Go Away” is more than a nursery song to Clarion Swenson of Sandwich: the song is a prayer for when he’s out in the fields.

Swenson first started farming about 50 years ago, when his children were young. He now has 15 acres of sweet corn that is sold at stands in Sandwich and Plano.

“I’m 89 years old, and this is one of the rainiest springs we’ve had all my years of farming,” Swenson said. “The rain has been above normal, but my crop has done very well this year.”

According to the Northern Illinois University Department of Geography Cooperative Weather Station, 8.20 inches of rain fell in June. The month’s rainfall total was 4.02 inches higher than the June historical average of 4.18 inches. June 2015 ranked sixth for the highest amount of precipitation in the month of June since 1895.

Troy Dukes, the site manager of the Monsanto production facility in Waterman, has been out in cornfields in Lee and White­side counties since July 6 detasseling corn. He said he has noticed a change in the crop due to the rain in June.

“We have been challenged because of the weather and all the rain,” Dukes said. “The fields are uneven, with some shorter and smaller than average. We have some very good parts and some very poor parts. It’s a mix of good and bad. ... The rain throughout June caused this problem. It’s been stunting the growth and causing drawn-out spots in the field. This is not something in just my fields. This is in all cornfields for all farmers in the area.”

More than 88 percent – or 370,772 acres – of land in DeKalb County is farmland. Of that land, about 63 percent is used to grow corn. Mariam Wassmann, the director of information at the DeKalb County Farm Bureau, said sweet corn only makes up about 1 percent of the corn grown in DeKalb County. The other 99 percent is field corn.

According to the National Corn Growers Association, about 46 percent of corn is fed to livestock, including hogs, cattle and poultry in the United States. The next greatest usage is for ethanol and co-products, at 30 percent, followed by exports at 13 percent. Food and industrial use of corn is only 11 percent.

“The 12,000 acres of corn I plant each year is seed corn, which will be used for seeds to be planted next spring,” Dukes said. “The corn is in the milk stage, meaning that it is still young and is forming on the ear. Ears have been starting to fill out these last several weeks and what we call dry weight has been added. It’s still an ongoing process.”

Dukes said he will harvest his seed corn at the end of August and into September, when the percent of moisture in the corn kernels is between 30 and 35 percent. He said farmers who grow field corn usually harvest in October, when the moisture is between 18 and 20 percent.

Sweet corn farmers are harvesting now, with that season starting in early July and ending mid-August. Sweet corn is harvested when its tassels begin to turn brown, cobs start to swell and kernels are full and milky. Since sweet corn varieties lose their sweetness soon after harvesting, the corn sold at Swenson’s stands is picked fresh daily. Any corn remaining at the end of the day is given to the pigs as feed.

“We were late getting into the ground because of the cold, but we planted in April,” Swenson said. “We use a machine to plant, but the corn is picked by hand. The weather is good, not too hot now. The warm, sunny weather helps the corn plant germinate. All I can do is plant it, and the good Lord does the rest.”

Brenda Adrian, a seller at Swenson’s sweet corn stand in Plano, said business is hopping and that sweet corn is in high demand.

“People wait all year for sweet corn, and it’s hard to keep up with the demand,” Adrian said. “I think this year, our corn crops are better than they have ever been. The corn is definitely sweeter.”

Swenson attributes the sweeter corn to the two new varieties of corn he planted this year.

“The newer hybrids bred earlier and hold flavor longer,” Swenson said. “I think that this is some of the sweetest sweet corn I’ve ever had.

Customers seem to agree: large orders of corn have been placed, one order as large as 100 dozen.

Felicia Massier of Plano ordered 10 dozen ears of corn from Swenson and plans on freezing some so she can have fresh sweet corn in the middle of winter.

“I buy sweet corn every year, and it’s fantastic,” Massier said. “You can grill it or boil it, even eat it raw. I served some corn during a family picnic in Wisconsin last weekend, and I came back for more.”

Lynn Van Deusen of Sheridan stopped for corn at an Updike’s corn stand in Somonauk.

“I buy sweet corn in the summer often,” he said. “Fresh sweet corn from a stand is better than what’s in stores. And it’s always nice to support local people, local farmers, if I can. ... I have favorite spots to go, and I usually stop whenever I see a sign.”