COPLAY, Pa. – After weeks of worrying about dry conditions, recent rainfall is giving local farmers renewed optimism for this year\u2019s sweet corn crop.<\/p>\n
For Newhard Farms, where roughly 1.5 million stalks of sweet corn are planted each season, the change has been noticeable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is how it\u2019s supposed to look,\u201d farmer Don Newhard said while driving through rows of corn ready for harvest.<\/p>\n
Newhard welcomed the recent rain with his trademark sense of humor.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really nice when the good Lord waters it, and I don\u2019t have to,\u201d Newhard said.<\/p>\n
When asked if he ever calls him \u201cthe bad Lord\u201d during dry spells, Newhard laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, but I ask him why,\u201d he responded.<\/p>\n
A healthy crop is essential for the farm\u2019s busy corn stand, where customers are already enjoying this year\u2019s harvest.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo nights in a row of good living,\u201d one customer joked while buying sweet corn.<\/p>\n
Rain Makes a Difference<\/p>\n
The improvement is something Heather Skorinko has witnessed firsthand.<\/p>\n
69 News spoke with Skorinko just last week while reporting on her family\u2019s efforts to preserve their North Whitehall Township farm. At the time, she warned continued dry weather could severely impact the crop.<\/p>\n
\u201cA week ago, you told me if we don\u2019t get some rain soon, our entire crop could be really impacted,\u201d 69 News Reporter Bo Koltnow said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s true,\u201d Skorinko replied.<\/p>\n
Since then, timely rainfall has changed the outlook.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is looking much better,\u201d Skorinko said. \u201cOur early corn was only about this wide.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked if the crop would have looked this healthy a week earlier, she answered simply:<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s because of the rain?\u201d Koltnow asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d she replied.<\/p>\n
Rain helps corn develop larger kernels, improving both quality and the value of the crop.<\/p>\n
Still Watching the Weather<\/p>\n
Despite the improved outlook for sweet corn, farmers say the season is far from over.<\/p>\n
Ethan Newhard, Don\u2019s grandson, says field corn\u2014which makes up the majority of the family\u2019s farming operation\u2014won\u2019t be harvested until the fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we get an inch of rain a week from here until harvest, that is the goal,\u201d Ethan Newhard said. \u201cThat would make a good year for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Skorinko says rain is also critical for another crop that supports her livestock.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also raise our own alfalfa for hay. That needs consistent rainfall to keep growing and cutting for more hay to feed livestock.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked whether farmers ever get a break, Skorinko laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
For farmers across the region, recent rains have eased concerns over sweet corn, but with field corn, hay and livestock still depending on the weather, the growing season is far from over.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COPLAY, Pa. – After weeks of worrying about dry conditions, recent rainfall is giving local farmers renewed optimism…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258608,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[109776,119,121,120,109775,5627,35827,11294,95186,28,26349,96860,1133],"class_list":["post-258607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-alfalfa","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-crop-yield","tag-drought","tag-farmers","tag-harvest","tag-livestock","tag-pennsylvania","tag-rainfall","tag-sweet-corn","tag-weather"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}