THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 26, 1996 TAG: 9607240144
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY SCOTT MCCASKEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 146 lines
Farmers in Chesapeake and Southeastern Virginia are keeping their fingers crossed.
If a hurricane or high winds don't hit before the September harvest, this season could bring one of the biggest corn crops in years.
Plenty of rain at the proper times and ample sunshine without devastating heat have helped produce a potentially banner harvest.
``This could be the best year we've ever had yield-wise,'' said Great Bridge farmer Herman A. Hall, 73. ``We're usually satisfied with about 200 bushels per acre, but we're getting about 300 an acre so far this season.''
Chesapeake Farm Bureau president Rodney L. Foster is also optimistic.
``We'll be harvesting the first of September and if we don't have any major problems before then we could have a bumper crop,'' Foster said, who has about 700 acres of corn in Chesapeake, Virginia Beach and Currituck. ``We might get 200 bushels per acre instead of the 150 we have in an average year.''
Corn comes in two types: sweet corn and field corn. Hall grows sweet corn, which is produced for human consumption. Foster grows field corn, used for livestock feed, and in sweeteners and plastics. Field corn makes up about 98 percent of Chesapeake's approximately 13,000 acres of corn.
Hurricane Bertha blew over some sweet corn, but did little or no damage to the hardier field corn. Lots of sunshine in recent weeks has helped rejuvenate much of the sweet variety.
Both types are tall. Sweet corn is reaching heights of about six feet, with field corn stretching from eight to ten feet. Some stalks have two ears instead of one, which is the usual yield.
``Unless something drastic occurs, things look very good,'' said W. Arnold Dawley, director of the Chesapeake/Virginia Beach Farm Service Agency. ``Stocks nationally are as low as they've been in 15 years and the price is up. A high yield at a high price makes for a great year.''
Field corn, the second-largest local commercial cash crop behind soybeans, could sell for nearly $4 a bushel this year, Dawley said, up from less than $3 in recent seasons. Sweet corn could average about $7 a bushel or higher, an increase from last year's average of about $6.
Price, however, largely is determined by projected crop yields in the Midwest Corn Belt. Supply and demand mandates that a large crop will bring lower prices. A lack of rain in the Corn Belt early this summer has helped boost prices, but the market could drop if moisture arrives in the immediate future.
Local production already has been good for sweet corn, which reaches its peak production time in July.
``Bertha laid the field down a little, but the sun is bringing it back up, and that will make it easier to harvest,'' said Curtis L. Hall, 40, who owns and operates the family business with his father, Herman, and brother, Herman A. Hall III.
Corn needs to stand as erect as possible so that the jaws of the combine can easily snag ears off the stalks.
The Hall farm has about 80 acres of sweet corn. Curtis said that an average year's crop grosses about $1,200 per acre, but that this season may bring up to $1,800 per acre if the favorable weather continues.
The word is out on this year's exceptional corn and consumers are starting to line up at road-side stands.
``Business gets a little better every day,'' said Violet F. Jensen, 59, whose family grows corn in Virginia Beach and operates a vegetable shed on Mount Pleasant Road in Chesapeake. ``People are starting to hear about this year's crop.''
Charles M. Vernay of Virginia Beach liked what he saw at Jensen's stand: ``The corn looks good, and local Silver Queen is my favorite,'' said Vernay, 70.
Sweet corn is planted in April and May and takes about 90 days to mature. The crop is harvested at intervals from June through mid-August to keep the market from being flooded and to ensure freshness to consumers.
Field corn is planted in April, takes from 90 to 120 days to mature, and is harvested all at once, usually in early September. Although Bertha was pretty much just a close-call, the chance of a storm scoring a direct hit before harvest time does have farmers concerned.
``Bertha got too close for comfort,'' said Don H. Horsley, 49, who grows mostly field corn in Chesapeake and Virginia Beach. ``Hurricanes scare you to death. Anything that makes the corn lay flat on the ground can spell disaster.''
Other threats to corn, severely hot and dry weather, borer and earworms, have not been a problem so far this season. The earworm, however, has caused problems in the past, coming out in the hotter days of early August.
``The earworm seems to prefer the sweet variety much more,'' said Herman Hall.
Although water is crucial for corn to grow, too much moisture at harvest can muddy the fields and make it difficult for a combine to get through.
Foster, 50 and a third-generation farmer, said that three inches of rain in May, 2 1/2 to 3 inches in June, 4 inches in July, and tapering to about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in August is the proper amount for a good field corn crop, which needs to be dry at harvest for the best results in grain production and bin storage.
Sweet corn, on the other hand, needs to be moist, tender and fresh. After harvest, it is loaded into crates and given an ``ice water bath,'' cooling it to about 40 degrees and lengthening its shelf life. The corn is then shipped to the warehouse and on to market.
``There's a lot of labor with sweet corn,'' said Herman Hall III, 47. ``Field corn is all mechanized. The combine picks it and dumps it in the truck, and it's off to the bin.''
The Halls expect to harvest nearly 22,000 crates this year. A crate equals approximately one bushel. Much of the yield will be sold to area stores, including Farm Fresh and Farmer Jack. Some corn will be shipped as far as Chicago.
The family grows a variety of sweet corn, including Supersweet, which has a very high sugar content, more even than Silver Queen, which is traditionally the most popular of sweet corns in this area.
``Supersweet is so good you can just pick it off the stalk and eat it,'' said Curtis Hall.
Other sweet varieties include Silverado and Sweet Ice. Most types have white kernels, but there are some sweet yellow corns.
From a nutritional standpoint, corn is pretty much ``middle of the road'' compared to other vegetables, said Carole Thorpe, home economist in the Chesapeake office of the Virginia Cooperative Extension. An average-size ear of corn has about 85 calories, one gram of fat, three grams of protein, and 19 grams of carbohydrates. Corn does offer a slightly better than average source of potassium and vitamin A.
While corn on the cob gets the most attention from consumers, it's field corn that drives the industry. And the prosperity of area farmers remains linked to what happens in the Corn Belt.
``The Midwest is the key because they set the price,'' Foster said. ``We don't produce enough corn here to make a difference. If the Midwest gets rain in the next two or three days it can directly affect the market. If they have a bumper crop, we won't get as much for ours. If it goes dry with a lot of heat, our market goes up overnight.''
Foster said it remains to be seen what will happen in the Midwest, but that farmers will be watching both the Corn Belt and the Weather Channel.
``There's nothing we can do about the weather,'' he said. ``But it seems like every time the weatherman says the storm is way out at sea and there's nothing to worry about, it turns into a curse. You know this is a gamble from the time you put the seeds in the ground, even when it looks like it's going to be a good year.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo on cover
Staff photos by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Farmer Curtis Hall checks the sweet corn in his field off
Centerville Turnpike. ``Bertha laid the field down a little, but the
sun is bringing it back up,'' says Hall.
Workers on Curtis Hall's farm crate up some of the early corn to be
hauled to a processing plant.
Farm Bureau president Rodney Foster, above, is a third generation
farmer who has about 700 acres of corn. Curtis Hall, left, says that
an average year's crop grosses about $1,200 per acre, but this
season may bring up to $1,800 per acre. Customer Charles M. Vernay
of Virginia Beach liked what he saw at a roadside stand. by CNB