The long dry summer has taken its toll on yields of New York’s sweet corn. Ten days prior to Labour Day, growers were short on volume. “Demand has definitely exceeded supply here for the last five to six weeks,” said Jason Turek of Turek Farms. New York’s season is winding down and sweet corn will transition into Georgia.
Unwelcome weather was hard for many crops other than sweet corn, including celery in Michigan. “If somebody had asked me in January how I thought this year was going to go I had it completely wrong” said Turek. “The weather just played such a huge roll and it can change a whole season in a matter of a few weeks.” The season started out with a wet spring that he says hindered planting in Florida. “It kept supplies tight through Georgia and extremely tight into the mid-Atlantic season.”
When rain finally hit while the Northeast’s season got going it resulted in a glut in August and an abrupt finish in the corn business for some people. “The heat of the summer pushed us – we were running two weeks ahead of schedule throughout most of the summer,” he said. “Our supplies should have lasted in New York until mid October but the heat pushed it forward and we’ll probably finish this weekend.”
Price has been extremely strong for the last five weeks although going forward Turek says it’s a tricky time of year with people transitioning into fall produce. The farm is now concentrating on hard squashes (butternut, acorn, spaghetti and buttercup) as well as pumpkins, fall broccoli and cauliflower is also underway. The farm will be introducing Brussels sprouts as a new item for the first time this year. “They’re trendy and popular these days,” said Turek. Harvest will take place around October 20th. “We should have them into early December. We’re going to experiment with (selling to) different regions and see how they go.”
For more information:
Jason Turek
Turek Farms
Tel: 315-364-8735