First Taber corn of the summer arrives at farm stands

Taber corn is starting to hit stands around Alberta, and farmers are excited about this year’s crop despite a harvest that was slower than was hoped for.

The first ears of this year’s Tabers corn are popping up at farm stands.

“Everyone’s asking, ‘When’s corn coming out?’” said James Johnson, co-owner of Johnson Fresh Farms. “Maybe we should do a little better job keeping everyone up to date on the start date, but we’ve just found that it’s farming; it’s always unpredictable.”

Molnar Farms, meanwhile, says its corn will also be hitting farm stands soon.

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“We’re very excited,” said farm manager Kyle Molnar. “It’s looking really nice. We can’t wait to get out and see all of our customers again.”

A hot and dry start to the growing season had the corn growing quickly, but wetter-than-expected conditions in July slowed things down.

“July has been historically colder and wetter (than usual) – which has just been fine for the rest of the farm – (but) it has definitely pushed our start date on our corn,” Johnson said.

Despite the slower-than-hoped harvest, Molnar says he’s still happy with how the corn is looking.

“We’re very happy with the crop we have this year,” he said. “Hopefully the yield is good.”

Barring any heat waves or extended rain, the Taber corn season will stretch into mid September.