Worms cut into Olathe sweet corn production
At Heinies Market in Wheat Ridge, loyal shoppers come by knowing what they'll find.
"I get their website, so I knew they had it," one customer laughed.
Many of them picked up a Colorado favorite: Olathe sweet corn.
"A lot of corn, they buy a lot of corn here," Justin Sanchez laughed.
Sanchez is the manager of the market and says so far, they've been able to avoid any disruptions in deliveries or the quality of the corn they provide.
"We go over there with our own semis and that way we are actually able to check the stuff before we buy it," he said.
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But farmers on the Western Slope say an earworm infestation is cutting into production.
The bug shows up so often that thousands of ears of corn are left in the fields.
"We are going through the field, and we are probably throwing about 40% of the corn away because we are pulling the silk at the end of the corn and if that silk releases, then we know that a worm has been in there," John Harold said.
Harold started the Tuxedo Corn Company in Olathe more than 40 years ago, he's now the state's largest, sweet corn producer.
Shipping half a million boxes of sweet corn across the country every year he's among the hardest hit by the infestation.
"The first 10 days we probably lost somewhere in the neighborhood of a million dollars worth of fresh corn," Harold added.
He says many of his competitors are dealing with the same issue and while weather likely played a role, they want a better understanding of why it happened.
That question prompted him to reach out to Sen. Michael Bennett requesting help reaching the Secretary of Agriculture and a team of experts to investigate.
In the meantime, harvesting he says is taking more time and consumers may have to wait a little longer for their summertime favorite.
"I might buy some that's from somewhere else but nah I'll just wait," one customer said.
