From the Fields: How sweet it is

It’s hard to believe we are already at the end of August. We have finished sweet corn sales for 2023. This is a family project, and I believe almost all of us are OK that the time has come to wrap up. We stop short of celebrating the end. We love our sweet corn as much as our customers. It is also extremely labor intensive, and it needs picked every day, no matter the weather.

At this point in our crop year, we have had timely rains for crop development, but not enough to build the subsoil moisture. In this heat, I am reminded that the corn loves it best when I’m miserably sweaty.

We are collecting our full amount of growing degree units. We have applied some fungicides, but only where needed. We have seen some tar spot, but as of Aug. 20, it is not a problem, which we are thankful for. The insect and disease pressures also are very low.

We are always optimistic when it comes to our crops. We do all we can to the best of our ability and trust God for the outcome. Looking back at the planting and growing season this crop has gone through, it looks good.

This summer, we are spending time on building and storage facility maintenance. There are always yards and roadsides to mow when it rains. We have begun the harvest equipment checks, as well.

August brought another successful Taste From Indiana Farms event in the Indiana Farm Bureau Fall Creek Pavilion at the Indiana State Fair. The Women’s Leadership Committee served and talked to over 8,000 people in four days. Our goal is to share the value of our Indiana farm families and the variety of grocery items they can find containing Indiana-grown ingredients by giving attendees a “taste,” as well as a farm fact about it.

We are also attending field days, informational meetings and the Farm Progress Show. We hosted a group of recently graduated Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance claims adjusters on the farm. We believe it’s important to share our farm and provide the reasoning behind what we do, so they can better understand when making decisions that may concern us.

The last Saturday in August was our INFB delegate session in Hendricks County. Delegates from all 92 counties came together to discuss and determine our policies for 2024. This process is fascinating and very important to Indiana agriculture. I never cease to be amazed by the number of different perspectives on suggested policy because of the variety of locations and experiences of our members across the state.