Sustainable Sweet Corn Production

Project Overview

FNC12-871
Project Type: Farmer/Rancher
Funds awarded in 2012: $5,574.00
Projected End Date: 12/31/2013
Region: North Central
State: Ohio
Project Coordinator:
Marissa Kruthaup
Kruthaup Family Farm

Annual Reports

Information Products

Commodities

  • Vegetables: sweet corn

Practices

  • Crop Production: organic fertilizers, application rate management
  • Education and Training: display, extension, farmer to farmer, mentoring, networking, on-farm/ranch research, workshop
  • Farm Business Management: new enterprise development, budgets/cost and returns, community-supported agriculture, marketing management, feasibility study, agricultural finance
  • Pest Management: chemical control, cultural control, economic threshold, field monitoring/scouting, integrated pest management, physical control, precision herbicide use, weed ecology
  • Production Systems: transitioning to organic
  • Soil Management: organic matter, soil analysis, soil quality/health
  • Sustainable Communities: local and regional food systems, sustainability measures

    Proposal summary:

    For this project, I would like to look at two different aspects of growing sweet corn and the how viable each option is for farmers in the region. The first aspect I am interested in exploring is the difference in plant susceptibility to insects and disease between hybrid and heirloom varieties of sweet corn. The second aspect I would like to investigate is the difference in production between organically and conventionally produced sweet corn. To do this research, I would have two plots each on the same area of land. One plot would have hybrid and heirloom varieties of sweet corn grown conventionally, and the other plot would have hybrid and heirloom varieties of sweet corn grown organically. Both plots would have the soil tested and then amended to make them equal in starting nutrients and quality.

    Project objectives from proposal:

    Data collected will include yield data from each of the plots. The yield data will be separated between the organic hybrid, organic heirloom, conventional hybrid, and conventional heirloom plots. I will also keeps record of how much input is required for each of the plots and the total cost of those inputs, including labor. Finally, I will spend time scouting for insects and disease and keep integrated pest management records to show the plants’ resistance.

    Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.