From the Field to the Movie Theater: September Popcorn Update

Wow, it is hard to believe how fast the summer has gone! Seems like we were just planting the popcorn crop yesterday and now we are getting closer to harvesting it! Yet, I think many farmers are anxious to get their crops out of the field and move on to another growing year that hopefully won't include a drought. It seemed like no one could catch a rain this last summer or get a break from temperatures that ranged from the low 90's into triple digits. Although it was a very dry and hot summer, some crops look fairly decent considering the conditions we faced. Almost all of the irrigated crops look really good while most of the dryland crops looks tough.

So now for the latest update on the popcorn! Unfortunately we didn't receive much rain in August, which meant we had to continue to irrigate the popcorn. However, we didn't have to irrigate the popcorn the entire month of August since the popcorn plants started to dry down and reached their full maturity. When I say the plant started to "dry down", I mean that the plant starts turning a brown color and stops absorbing moisture from the ground. While the plant is starting to dry down, so are the corn kernels. The popcorn kernels start to turn from a light yellow color to a darker yellow color. This is a sign that the popcorn is getting closer to being ready for harvest. Our popcorn will most likely be getting harvested within the next couple of weeks. Usually our popcorn crop is ready before any of our other crops. I will be sure to post a "Popcorn Harvest" blog when we begin the harvest process!

Below are the current pictures of the popcorn crop!

Just a month ago the leaves were a green color and now they have turned to a light brown color. This is part of the drying down process.

An ear that will be ready to be harvested within another week!

Even the tassels dry out.

The size of the plant hasn't changed much since my last blog. However, it's amazing at how fast a popcorn plant can dry down within a month.

One of the ears I picked on the end of the field. Makes a person wonder how big the ears are as you get further into the field.

The cob!

These are what a person will find in the bottom of their popcorn back (the ones that don't pop).

If you would like to see my previous popcorn updates, click here!