With less water to irrigate corn crops this year, farmers grateful for spring rains but say they affected yields

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With the sweet corn harvest in the Taber area starting a month ago, plenty of the southern Alberta farming community’s famous corn can now be found at corn stands and in stores.

Taber-area corn growers said Friday this year’s crop is looking average, but they are thankful for spring rains that helped make up for having significantly less water than usual allocated to them by the local irrigation district.

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James (Bucky) Johnson of Johnson Fresh Farms said his farm’s harvest began at the end of July, about a week later than normal, and will continue until mid to late September. He estimated about 80 per cent of its corn is off the field.

“It will probably be a little bit below average year for the sweet corn,” Johnson said Friday.

This spring was cold and wet, and there was a bit of corn seed rot because it sat in the cold, wet soil for too long, said Johnson.

“(Sweet corn) likes the heat, that’s for sure, and you’ve got to keep it wet,” he said. “That’s kind of why Taber is world famous for sweet corn, is (that) we have hot days and then at night it cools down, and the cold nights bring out the sugar, which makes it sweet.”

But Johnson said the farm gladly took all the free water it could get this year, with southern Alberta farmers being allocated less water from irrigation districts this growing season.

In the Taber area, the St. Mary River Irrigation District set the allocation at nine inches this year, well below past years when the allocation has been between 16 and 18 inches, said Johnson.

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Producers make do with less irrigation this year

While August is a busy time in the field, Johnson Fresh Farms, whose corn can be found throughout the province, took part in last weekend’s Taber Cornfest, and its honeycomb variety was voted the best corn this year. Still to be harvested are varieties called Vision, Krispy King and Peaches and Cream.

Kyle Molnar of Molnar’s Taber Corn and Pumpkins, which has also been harvesting corn since the end of July, said yields are looking about average due to the colder weather and rain this spring.

“But if we wouldn’t have had the rain, we wouldn’t have any corn anyways, because we’re so limited on our water now,” with the farm’s corn crops all on irrigated land, said Molnar.

Last year was a “crazy” one for the corn crop due to the hot, dry conditions throughout much of the growing season, he said.

“It just went to 30 degrees and basically stayed there, and that’s what the corn really likes, so the yields were just massive last year.”

He estimated the farm, whose sweet corn can be found at Sobeys stores in Calgary, has now harvested 75 per cent of its corn and should have product until the end of September, depending on when the frost comes.

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The farm, which grows about 11 sweet corn varieties, had two varieties at the Taber Cornfest for corn lovers to taste.

“Didn’t hear any complaints, so that’s a nice bonus,” he said.

While Taber-area corn producers had to make do with less irrigated water this year, the reduced allocation this season “will result in much-improved winter storage levels and optimism for a less stressful irrigation season in 2025,” St. Mary River Irrigation District board chair George Lohues said in a Friday notice to the district’s irrigators.

“Despite our challenges this season, crops are looking great and we wish you a safe and successful harvest,” he wrote.

stipper@postmedia.com

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