Small-Scale Ag Alternative:
Specialty Corns
George Dickerson
Extension Horticulture
Specialist
New Mexico
Cooperative Extension
George B. Holcomb
Office of
Public Affairs
USDA
Howard W. “Bud” Kerr, Jr.
USDA
Five hundred years ago, Col
umbus was one of the first
Europeans to set eyes on maize
the foundation of most great
Western Hemisphere civiliza
tions, including those of the
Incas, Mayans, and Aztecs.
In the April 1992 Organic
Gardening magazine. Shepherd
Ogden said, “sweet com is the
most American of vegetables.”
His article has tips for growers.
In 1540, Coronado noted
maize or com growing under
irrigation among native Ameri
cans of the southwestern part of
what is now the United States.
Com largely kept the Pilgrims
alive during the harsh winter of
1620 on the East Coast. The
oldest known remains of com
cobs may be in Tehuacan, Mex
ico, dating back 7,000 years.
Most com historians consider a
wild grass called Tcosinte one
of modem corn’s primary
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ancestors.
Com is one of the most
diverse grain crops. Nature by
itself and man working with it
have produced many types of
com. Com is generally classed
as to kernel endospemm char
acteristics. Endospemm refers
to a seed’s nutritive tissue, sur
rounding and absorbed by the
embryo.
The six most common com
types include flint, flour, dent,
pop, waxy, and sweet. A
seventh is called pod or tunicate
com, which may have endos
pemms like the other six. Pod
corns differ from the others in
that each individual kernel is
enclosed in a glume or husk.
Popcorns are basically
small-kemeled flint types.
Waxy com carries a gene which
results in the production of 100
percent amylopectin, that is,
starchy pectin.
Standard sweet com at the
immature, milky stage contains
about 10 percent sucrose, while
field com in the same stage has
about 4 percent. After harvest
or if left on the stalk too long,
sucrose in standard sweet com
is rapidly converted to starch.
Unlike dent com, sweet com
is not grown for feed or flour,
although USDA researchers
have developed a technique to
produce a high-fiber, no-calorie
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Store Hours: Mon.-Sat. 7:30 AM to 8:00 PM 4-17
Sweet Corn
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flour from pericarps that sur
round kernels, holding them on
the cob.
Sweet com kernels often
have a wrinkled, glassy appear
ance resulting from a sugary
gene which retards the normal
conversion of sugar to starch
during endosperm develop
ment. Kernel colors vary,
sometimes being mixed both
white and yellow.
William “Bill” Watson, pres
ident and owner of the Liberty
Seed Company in New Phi
ladelphia, Ohio is doing a
write-up of the many sweetcom
developments of the past
decade. He says there has been
more change in the past decade
than in the preceding 25 years.
To compete and find a near
by niche (like a restaurant or
roadside stand) for their sweet
com, entrepreneurs should
explore the potentials for mov
ing high-sugar varieties of com
to consumers within a day after
harvest. The need for speed is
because kernels at room temp
erature can lose as much as 50
percent of their sucrose by 24
hours after harvest.
Development of sweeter var
ieties of standard sweet com
was done by selections within
homozygous “SUI” genotypes.
One selection Silver Queen
became the standard against
which other standard sweet
com varieties were compared.
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Corn Talk, Lancuter Farming, Saturday, April 17,1M3—Ptge is
(CdDIN mi MlWl
PENNSYLVANIA MASTER CORN GROWERS ASSOC., INC.
Later supersweet SH2 variet
ies, i.e., “sugary enhanced
(SE)” or supersweet “shnunken
(SH2),” have 2 to 3 times as
much sucrose as standard sweet
com at harvest! What’s more,
sucrose levels stay relatively
high 48 hours after harvest.
Growers of the SH2 gene
sweet com must be careful not
to plant it within 250 feet or
more depending on prevail
ing winds —of any other kinds
of com because pollen may be
picked up from neighboring
com, which will dilute the
sweetness, making kernels
undesirably tough and starchy.
One exception to the distant
planting rule is Kandy Kom,
whose sugar- enhanced SE
gene produces a variety for far
mers that, like other SE variet
ies, requires no isolation.
Growers for the roadside
trade usually sell high-sugar
com of the SE variety because
it’s easier to grow; those who
ship to the more distant markets
lean toward the supersweet var
ieties to meet the competition.
The seed count is about
2,500 to 3,500 a pound for reg
ular sweet com. The count of
the shrunken gene types is con
siderably higher.
Andy and Tannie Daniels are
successful sweet com growers
in Columbus, Neb. Their story
is reported in the Successful
Fanning magazine’s publica
tion, ADAPT 3,1991.
The Daniels note that road
side stand work is hard, the sea
son is not long, and the returns
may grow slowly. To pick com
at the peak time, they usually
pay high schoolers or others the
minimum wage.
Roadside prices for sweet
com vary widely. Discounts for
quantity are urged. The fresh
ness increases the value (price)
over grocery store pricing.
Don’t undercut grocery stores.
The Daniels also advise adding
other vegetables, such as toma
toes and cantaloup, after estab
lishing a customer base.
They recommend SE variet
ies over the others for reasons
noted above, plus disease con
trol. The sweeter the variety,
the more susceptible it is to dis
ease, usually. The Daniels say
plant early, with not too many
varieties so as to avoid confus
ing customers.
Growers should check with
the county agriculture exten
sion agent to leam the best
planting dates, varieties recom
mended locally, and disease
and pest control methods that
reduce or eliminate chemicals.
The supersweets are just as
good for freezing as the others.
There are many varieties. Every
catalog will have some.
Other marketing details have
been emphasized in previous
factshcets and are in the
ADAPT books and not
repeated here. It needs repeat
ing, however, that entrepre
neurs not wishing to waste
money should determine an
exact and committed market
before they buy or plant any
seed.
Popcorn
Popcorns arc generally either
pearl or rice types. Pearls have
smooth, rounded crowns, while
rice types are pointed.
Color varies. Heating the
kernel turns the moisture inside
the soft starch in the center into
explosive steam that can turn
the kernel inside out. The grca-
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