A good corn crop is crucial to Sussex farmers

It's not corny; Sussex farmers depend on kernels.

In Sussex, corn is the No. 1 crop. At the end of September and into early October each year, massive combines can be seen harvesting expansive cornfields all over the county.

Corn is by far the top cash crop in Sussex, and Delaware for that matter.

Nearly all of the corn harvested by Sussex farmers is sold to poultry companies for broiler feed to support the county's No. 1 agricultural industry. Sussex County is the largest poultry-producing county in the United States.

Delaware Department of Agriculture Secretary Michael Scuse said as much corn as Delmarva farmers grow, it's still not enough to meet the needs of the poultry industry. About 40% of corn is shipped from Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

“The poultry industry and farmers are dependent on one another,” the secretary said.

In 2021, Sussex farmers grew 107,000 acres of corn with an average yield of 156 bushels per acre, or about $1,000 an acre.

Not always No. 1

But the county was not always covered with seemingly endless fields of corn. Although grain crops have always been planted, for decades, Sussex farmers grew mostly fruits and vegetables for human consumption. Canneries were a major industry in the county, and Sussex farmers shipped their produce via rail to points north and south.

Corn was grown and ground into corn flour at local mills.

The history of farming in Sussex is one of constant change and adaption.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, Sussex County and Delaware farmers grew more peaches than any other state – even Georgia, the Peach State. In the 1890s, there were 4 million peach trees in the state. Unfortunately, over the next decade, peach blight decimated the crop. “Farmers then needed to pivot,” Scuse said.

Sussex farmers started growing strawberries and tomatoes. Every town in the county had a least one cannery where farmers sold their tomatoes and other vegetables.

Around the same time, dairy farming saw a rapid increase. “From 1900 into the early 1960s, every farm in the state was a dairy farm,” Scuse said.

In the 1950s and into the 1960s, milk prices dropped so much that farmers couldn't even make a living, and then another pivot point was reached.

At the same time, the poultry industry exploded, and farmers switched to growing corn and soybeans to sell to poultry companies for feed.

“In the 1960s and into the 1970s, corn took over as the main crop to feed the growing poultry industry,” Scuse said.

In the years after World War II, mechanism and technology of farm equipment, including combines for the corn industry, resulted in bigger and better tractors and corn pickers, Scuse said. “With the improved combines, farmers could increase their acreage of corn and soybeans,” he said. With interchangeable heads, combines can be used to harvest not only corn but other crops such as soybeans, wheat and barley.

“Farmers on Delmarva have always been able to adapt to the changing needs of industry and consumers,” Scuse said.

Rising prices and no rain

Weather is still the unknown factor for county farmers. However, technology, better products and research have helped farmers keep up with unpredictable weather conditions – to a degree.

Scuse said this season has been particularly hard for corn farmers. Not only is the cost of production up 50%, there was little to no rain this past July and August – two of the key corn-growing months. There were also more than 40 days of temperatures exceeding 90 degrees.

He said in 1977 under the same drought conditions as experienced this year, farmers were getting yields of only 10 to 35 bushels per acre.

Today, Scuse said, farmers who don't have irrigation are getting 125 to 150 bushels per acre. “The companies have developed better products so farmers can grow crops with less water and nutrients,” he said.

However, farmers using irrigation are seeing higher yields. A 2020-21 University of Delaware Cooperative Extension study found that irrigated fields produced yields as high as 255 bushels per acre. Scuse said there is no doubt irrigation has made a huge difference in corn yields for farmers who use it. “Even though dry-land farmers are seeing better-than-anticipated yields, it does pay to irrigate. In years like this, it doesn't take long to pay for a system,” he said.

During the spring planting season, diesel fuel for farm equipment was two to three times higher than the year before. The average combine uses four to six gallons of fuel per acre. Scuse said prices for seed and fertilizer have also skyrocketed, some as much as 200% to 300% higher.

“With rising costs and supply-chain issues, farmers really need a good crop and good price this year,” he said.

Corn prices have ranged from $6 to $7 a bushel this year. “Even with that price, dry-land farmers with no irrigation will not have much money left after paying their bills,” he said.

Consider that the average farmer spends about $755 to grow an acre of corn, or about $151,000 for the typical 200-acre farm in the state. That’s up $124 from 2021 or about $25,000 for the average farm.

The many uses for corn

Corn can be found in about 4,000 products at the average grocery store – everything from toothpaste to baby food. The list of products containing some form of corn is seemingly endless, including plastics, packaging, glues, cleaners, clothing, lubricants, medicines, sweeteners, makeup, yogurt, cereal (of course), salad dressing, alcoholic beverages and brewing, and even chewing gum and fireworks, to name just a few.

The four parts of each corn kernel – starch, fiber, protein and oil – can be processed in different ways to be used in a multitude of products. Most corn ends up as feed stock and ethanol fuel.

About the secretary

This is Secretary Scuse's second go-around as head of the Delaware Department of Agriculture. He first served in the position from 2001 to 2008 until he left to become then-Gov. Ruth Ann Minner's chief of staff.

He also served in various positions, including U.S. secretary of agriculture in 2016 and 2017 in the Obama administration.

Scuse lives with his wife on a farm in Smyrna. “Running a combine was by far my favorite job on the farm,” Scuse said.

Farming facts

The first corn in the county was grown by Native Americans in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Tobacco was a key crop in the county and state in the 1700s.

In Delaware:

• 90% of farms are family owned

• 40% of land is devoted to farming

• 2,300 farms with about 50,000 acres

• No. 1 in the value of agricultural sales per acre at $2,791.

Agriculture and related businesses contribute more than $8 billion to the Delaware economy each year.

Top commodities sold in Delaware in 2021: Poultry and eggs, $811 million; grains, $321 million; vegetables and fruits, $61 million.

As much corn as county and state farmers grow, it's not in the same universe as the acres grown by the big four states – Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Minnesota. Those four Midwestern states account for nearly 8 billion bushels a year, which is more than half of all the corn harvested in the U.S.