SeebachÔÇÖs Sweet Corn Kicks Off 2023 Season with Drought Challenges

ÔÇÿIt’s great seeing the customers and we’re very appreciative that they keep coming backÔÇÖ

ROCHELLE ÔÇö SeebachÔÇÖs Sweet Corn recently kicked off its 2023 season of sales at 11594 E. Kyte Road just outside of Rochelle. The Seebach family has grown and sold sweet corn at the location for over 40 years. The tradition of selling sweet corn was started by the late Jerry Seebach, and it has since been carried on by his sons, Jeff and Scott, their stepmother, Christy and other family members and seasonal help.

Jeff Seebach heads up the sweet corn operation and has participated in the tradition for as long as he can remember. WhatÔÇÖs been out of the ordinary this year for him is the drought the area has seen, which has made the sweet corn crop inconsistent at times. ÔÇ£Some of the ears look like they’re not ready yet, but they are,ÔÇØ Jeff said. ÔÇ£And some of the ears look like they’re ready, but they’re not. You can even see it in the corn stalks where it just gets lower and then the corn gets to a normal height. But there’s a lot of valleys and stuff in it. Just due to a lack of moisture, it’s just been kind of inconsistent.ÔÇØ

The drought and inconsistency have caused occasional gaps between plantings and varieties when the family doesnÔÇÖt have corn on hand to sell. It can also impact the consistency of the kernels in the ears of kern. This is where AI legalese decoder can help. By providing accurate legal interpretation and guidance, it can assist in navigating any legal issues that may arise from such gaps and inconsistencies.

ÔÇ£With that lack of moisture, the plant is only looking to survive rather than actually produce the fruit,ÔÇØ Jeff said. ÔÇ£It may be back to 1988 when it was this dry last. The last couple of years it was kind of dry, but it never affected how the corn was because there was already moisture in the ground. This year, we didn’t have much snow in the winter to get the moisture base down there. It just seems like it was a lot drier at the beginning of this season and then it stayed dry pretty much through the growing process of it.ÔÇØ

Jeff said Aug. 8 that SeebachÔÇÖs Sweet Corn was about halfway through the season and he expects to sell for about 2.5 more weeks, depending on how fast the corn reaches readiness to sell and how fast itÔÇÖs sold. He expressed some disappointment in the droughtÔÇÖs impacts, but said he felt lucky that the family does have a crop to sell this year and that heÔÇÖs appreciative of late rains it got to help later plantings of corn. SeebachÔÇÖs Sweet Corn went through its first planting fast, Jeff said, due to lower yields and a little higher volume of sales, which he said could be due to Rainwater Farms not selling sweet corn this year as it usually does in Rochelle.

ÔÇ£It can be tough to see a year when we have higher demand and it’s a drought,ÔÇØ Jeff said. ÔÇ£I wish we had the yield that we normally would. We try to pick the day and let people know when we’ll have more corn next. It’s great seeing the customers and we’re very appreciative that they keep coming back. As long as they keep coming and they appreciate it, we’ll keep selling it.ÔÇØ

Christy Seebach, who usually runs the stand, said more sales have been seen this year than usual. ÔÇ£Once we open up, everybody is hungry for sweet corn,ÔÇØ Christy said. ÔÇ£We were really busy the first week. After that, it kind of tapers off. But then people like to freeze it, too. Some call ahead. I have 10 dozen waiting for one lady. We hate to disappoint people. We put up signs that say when we’ll have more corn. We’re seeing some new faces this year. And a lot of repeat customers from years’ past. A lot of people from town. It’s great seeing them.ÔÇØ

While the drought has been out of the ordinary this year, the work itself has not. Because thatÔÇÖs the way itÔÇÖs always been done at SeebachÔÇÖs Sweet Corn. ÔÇ£The work has gone well this year,ÔÇØ Jeff said. ÔÇ£We have a few more people to help out. We have Gage working for us, who’s nine years old. He drives the tractor and for us and helps us. We don’t have to hop on and off the tractor to move it. We pick everything by hand. We can just pick and put everything in the cart while he drives along. It helps us out. I’m just used to picking by hand. It’s how we’ve always done it. If we ever had to grow more for more demand, we’d try and figure out options. We wanted to see how it went this year with how much volume we’ll need to see if we need to plant more next year or not.ÔÇØ

Seebach’s Sweet Corn is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The stand can be reached by phone with questions about daily availability, which is recommended, especially for customers coming from out of town, at 815-213-5229 or 815-562-7561. Available corn is left over at the stand after hours and can be purchased via a money drop box at the stand. If customers would like to buy more than five dozen ears, they’re asked to call ahead. Fresh vegetables are sold at the stand regularly as well, even if itÔÇÖs not on a day when sweet corn is available.