Pacific Northwest Grows Some of the Sweetest Sweet Corn

Pacific Northwest Grows Some of the Sweetest Sweet Corn

I’m KayDee Gilkey with the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report.

The Pacific Northwest is a leader in sweet corn production. One of the reasons as Alan Schreiber, owner of Schreiber and Sons Farm, describes is because of the ideal growing conditions of our climate for the sweetest sweet corn.

Schreiber: “In the summer time when we are growing sweet corn, we have long days and it is hot during the day and it cools off at night. And that results in higher sugar levels in the sweet corn. One of the things in sweet corn what they go after is high sugar levels and we have very high sugar levels here. Almost all sweet corn is produced in the northern tier of states because of that reason. But because of our differential daytime and nighttime temperatures, we have high sugar levels in our sweet corn.”

Schreiber shares improved genetics have increased sweet corn yields with a shorter growing season which makes it attractive and conducive for for double cropping.

Schreiber: “So with the growing conditions we have in the Northwest there is a lot of double cropping of sweet corn. They will plant peas or beans -- or if you are in a warmer area even winter wheat. They will harvest those crops and they can get a crop of sweet corn off after the peas, beans and wheat. So you get two crops off of one field in a single growing season. As a result, the bulk of Northwest sweet corn does comes off in September, October and early November.”

I’m KayDee Gilkey with the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.