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It’s harvest time in Sussex County

Corn is No. 1 crop for local farmers; price per bushel expected to be high this year
This is a commonplace sight in Sussex County in late September and most of October as huge combines get to work during the annual fall harvest. RON MACARTHUR PHOTOS
Ron MacArthur
October 5, 2021

Fall means harvest time for Sussex County farmers.

According to the Delaware Department of Agriculture, Sussex farmers will grow about 104,000 acres of corn in 2021. Because of domestic and worldwide demand, prices per bushel are expected to be high this year. As of the end of September, the price per bushel was $5.39, compared to $4.30 last year. Corn is the No. 1 crop in the county.

In 2020, Delaware farmers harvested nearly 28 million bushels of corn on 180,000 acres for an average yield of 163 bushels per acre and a total economic impact of $121 million. 

Sussex farmers in 2020 harvested 107,000 acres of corn with an average yield of 156 bushels per acre. Nearly all of the local corn crop is purchased by the poultry industry to make chicken feed.

A combine filled with harvested corn heads to the end of the field to unload into a waiting tractor-trailer.
A Case combine plows through a field just off Route 24 along Mulberry Knoll Road near Lewes. Farmers can expect to pay from $380,000 to $500,000 for a new high-tech combine.
After trailers are filled, they are transported to local grain mills. Nearly all of the Sussex corn crop is purchased by the poultry industry for chicken feed.
This combine is offloading harvested corn as it takes down corn stalks in the field.

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