(Radio Iowa) – Iowa is the nation’s top corn grower, with more than 13-million acres devoted to the vegetable, but some Iowans are planting their first small crops of -sweet- corn this spring. Aaron Steil, consumer horticulture specialist at the Iowa State University Extension, says if you’d hoped to have sweet corn by the 4th of July, you would need to have planted in mid-April, but he says there’s still plenty of time to get seeds in the ground. “The last practical planting day, especially for the early varieties, is the end of June,” Steil says. “You would obviously be harvesting later if you planted that late, but you would still be able to get a crop in before frost easily.”

There are many types of sweet corn from which to choose. Steil says the “standard sugary” cultivars have the traditional sweet corn flavor and texture, but are only of the best quality within the first day after harvest, because sugars quickly convert to starch after picking. “Most folks really enjoy sweet corn that has good storage life,” Steil says. “Sweet corn really does start to go downhill very quickly after harvest and so certain varieties, like the super sweet or the augmented super sweets, store pretty well.”

Before buying seed, you’ll need to consider what elements are important, including flavor, sweetness, crunch and kernel color. When arranging your sweet corn plot, plan ahead for irrigation and make sure the soil is well fertilized, because corn uses a lot of nitrogen, as well as phosphorus and potassium.  “Rather than planting corn in long rows, like we so often see it in the field, planting our sweet corn in blocks because it’s wind-pollinated,” Steil says. “When we plant them in blocks, it does a better job of pollinating those ears of corn and you get better filled corn ears. You don’t have those little gap-tooth missing spots in the corn ear.”

Crayon drawings by kids may depict eight or ten ears of corn on each stalk, but Steil says you shouldn’t expect nearly as many. “One good ear can be expected from each stalk of corn,” Steil says. “In general, you can expect in a 10-foot row that you’ll get about 11 to 13 ears of corn, when you properly space your corn plants when you’re planting.”

For a continuous supply of sweet corn, plant early, mid-season and late cultivars. Also, he says to plant only fresh seeds, as old seeds may not germinate well. In addition, keep sweet corn isolated from popcorn as the quality of sweet corn will be lowered if it’s cross-pollinated by other types of corn.

(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa State University economist says there was a whole lot of uncertainty in the hog market well before last week’s Supreme Court opinion on pork production. The court ruled California may require that any pork sold in California must come from pigs that are the offspring of sows that had enough room to turn around in a livestock barn. I-S-U Extension livestock economist Lee Schulz says some producers have already retrofitted or built new confinements. Others may not be able to afford it.

“Pork producers are having some of the largest losses in 25 years. You have to go back to 1998 to see losses this large,” Schulz says. “…We’re already seeing contraction in the industry.” There could be an opportunity for businesses that make and install the metal enclosures for sows, but Schulz says given the labor market, finding enough employees to do the work will be challenge.

“Not only the availability of labor, but the cost of labor also is kind of a prohibitatnt when we think about having to make large changes on farms to both buildings and equipment,” Schulz says. California produces just one percent of U.S. pork. However, Californians consume 15 percent of all the bacon and other pork products sold in the country.

“The adjustments will have to take place outside the state of California. Where those exactly take place are still to be determined,” Schulz says. “Certainly there will be an impact here because of the size of Iowa’s pork production.” Nearly a third of the nation’s hogs are raised in Iowa. Schulz says Iowa swine operations that have already adjusted to California’s new rules will get higher premiums for their pigs in the near term.

“Likely they are the lower cost producers that would enable them to do that,” Schulz says. “A lot of times it’d be the larger producers. There are economies of scale in pork production, so if I have per unit lower costs, I am able to make some of those transitions a bit quicker.”

A court injunction that has prevented pig production rules for pork sold in California from taking effect will expire July 1st. The U.S. Humane Society says the Supreme Court made it clear preventing animal cruelty is a core function of state governments and California will have the strongest animal welfare law in the country.