The corn roast might be delayed

Photo Jean-François Desgagnés
Isabelle Béland hopes that the nights will be warmer to ripen his corn.

Marie-Eve Dumont

Monday, 31 July, 2017 21:13

UPDATE
Monday, 31 July, 2017 21:13

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The famous corn roast as a family could be delayed two or three weeks this year because of a shortage of sweet corn caused by the wet spring and cold nights.

“It requires people to be strategic and they come to pick their corn early, or that they reserve a few days in advance. If they could delay their big corn roast in mid-August, it would be well too, ” lance chuckled Marielle Farley, gardens, Mont-Rouge, in Montérégie.

The abundance of sweet corn that we know and usually during the vacation of the construction is expected to get two, or even three weeks later than usual depending on the regions of Québec.

“It is already happened to be in delay of 4 or 5 days, but to be shifted by two weeks or more, I’ve never seen it,” insists Ms. Farley.

The wet spring has delayed the planting of corn. The farmers were unable to go into the fields because there was too much water. The lack of heat at the beginning of the summer and the cold nights that have continued now prevents the vegetable to mature.

More damage

The wheat growers of India believe, therefore, that we should be aware of a ” hollow “, a certain rarity in the corn by mid-August.

At the farm Béland and girls from Neuville, in the region of Quebec, there was no corn to sell at the booth at 11 a.m. on Monday morning.

“Normally, there is a field to complete and we move on to the other, but this year you must go over it several times in the same, because all the corn is not all ready at the same time,” says the owner Isabelle Béland.

In some places in Quebec, as in the Mauricie region, it lacks so much corn to meet the demand that producers are turning to their colleagues from the Montérégie region to try to fill the stalls of their booth, said Ms. Farley.

“It’s really the culture that had the most damage this year. It is a beginning of a difficult season, ” insists Mr Milette, of the Farm of the Old Forges in Trois-Rivières.

Late on the circular

Therefore, it is possible to find the wheat of India in the kiosks at the producers, in the markets, but in smaller quantity, with the result that it is more expensive and more quickly. It is found to 6.50 $ or 7 $ for a dozen, while, normally, it could sell around 4 or $ 5, at this time of the year.

For grocery chains, this is a whole other story. Provigo has put the corn in Quebec in its circular for $ 3 a dozen and while producers are not able to provide.

“It was difficult to follow the promotion of channels. The circulars are made three weeks in advance so that it is difficult for us to predict. It will be necessary to give the discount to a later time, ” says André Plante, president of the Association des producteurs maraîchers du Québec (APMQ).

Mr. Plant is also concern that the consumer is disinterested in the corn at the time when it will overflow the shelves.

“It might be a great deal for the month of September, so that we consume less with the start of classes. The hope is that people will follow us “, he says.

At Provigo, we replied that, if the demand became too high for the amount of corn available, it would adjust accordingly.