January 2024 - 19

SWEET CORN VARIETIES
S
weet corn growers are seeing improvements in
many areas, including sugars, flavor holding, ear
placement, stalk height and strength, shelf life
and improved picking windows.
Seed catalogs typically feature dozens of sweet corn
varieties, often close to 70, and growers routinely ask
their seed representatives why they are so numerous.
Attributes sought by growers also include ear size,
tenderness, husk color and cover, and yield. The
options help growers, from small roadside market
operators seeking flavorful varieties, as well as the
larger shippers who require size and ear uniformity
for tray pack production.
" Sweet corn is as American as apple pie and
baseball, " said Jeff Werner, Northeast sales
representative for Rupp Seeds and Werner Farms,
Rush, New York. " It's probably the most talked about
crop in general with any grower and it gets people
to stop on the roadside stands and pick it up in the
grocery stores. It's a very versatile crop. "
Newer varieties
Because maturity can range from 67 to 90 days,
growers generally use succession plantings throughout
the planting and growing season, providing them
opportunities to try many different varieties in one season.
To help growers widen their target markets and
planting windows, newer varieties, particularly the sh2i
gene for Crookham's supersweet types, offer stronger
emergence and vigor. They possess broader geographic
flexibility and environmental adaptation as well as
stronger disease resistance and improved harvesting
and postharvest storage attributes, said Dustin Batt, lead
sweet corn breeder for Crookham Co., Caldwell, Idaho.
The sh2i seed is plump and doesn't have jagged edges
like normal sh2 seed, accounting for an approximately
28% difference in weight from the standard shrunken seed.
" That means improved flowability and plantability
for the grower, less skips and fewer doubles, " Batt
said. " The sh2i Series also has an advantage over
sh2 seed in the level of activity and performance of
the seed during germination and more potential for
rapid uniform emergence and development of normal
seedlings under a wide range of field conditions. "
In addition to improved yields, newer varieties in
general require fewer or even zero fungicide applications
and can produce greater flexibility in the field, he said.
Sweet corn breeding companies continue refining
plant characteristics.
Mechanical harvesting
Varieties that don't grow past the husk are vital for
growers because they offer some measure of relief from
bird damage, Werner said. Ear height on the stalk is
becoming important for mechanical harvesters, delivering
labor efficiencies. Each year Werner sees more roadside
VEGETABLEGROWERSNEWS.COM | 19
Seed catalogs can feature up to 70 sweet corn varieties
to meet growers' needs, from small roadside markets to
wholesalers supplying retail and foodservice customers.
Photo courtesy of Crookham.
http://www.nj.gov/agriculture http://www.VEGETABLEGROWERSNEWS.COM
January 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2024
