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Central New York's corn crop is taking its sweet time this season
BALDWINSVILLE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — The fireworks are ready to pop, but Central New York's corn crop is still playing catch-up!
This corn season, local farmers are anticipating the crop to be ready for your cookout by mid-July.
At Abbott's Farm in Baldwinsville, the corn isn't anywhere near knee-high this season, which is the desired height farmers expect by the Fourth of July.
'It's been one of the wettest springs that I can remember,' said Abbott's Farm owner Warren Abbott.
'Normally, we want to have our corn in the first week of May, and this year we planted the first week of June.'
It wasn't just rainy this spring—cloudy, misty weather persisted for weeks, along with smoke from the Canadian wildfires that added an extra layer of haze, blocking the sun when the corn needed the most sunlight.
'You need sunlight to make sugar, that's the basic building block of life. Everything comes from the photosynthetic process, and how the green plants are doing,' Abbott said.
Although the corn crop is short now, farmers remain hopeful. The recent heat has been beneficial, and if the sunshine persists, the crop could still catch up. Abbott said farmers are used to adjusting, as every year brings different challenges.
'I might have to buy corn from New Jersey just to get through this year,' Abbott said. 'But next year will be different. It always is.'
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