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University tradition At Fresno State, the sweet corn legend dates back to the 1980s, when a professor first asked students to plant a few acres. Sales began shortly after that. Today, sweet corn—both yellow and white—is one of the best-known crops grown on the campus formally known as California State University, Fresno. The University Agricultural Laboratory—the farm— occupies roughly 1,000 acres on the otherwise urban campus and produces everything from wine and table grapes to beef and almonds. This outdoor classroom offers hands-on learning opportunities and jobs for students. The Gibson Farm Market is the hub for selling the fruit of that land, and last year sold more than 500,000 ears of sweet corn—on par with prior seasons. The sweet corn cycle begins in January when the first seeds are planted. The crop is grown on roughly 70 acres, and the waves of harvest generally start around Memorial Day and end around Labor Day. According to Salwasser, there’s nothing special about the two sweet corn varieties—the yellow is Vision, the white is No. 3274—planted at Fresno State. Both are commonly available. “There’s hundreds and hundreds of varieties of sweet corn out there,” he said. “There’s a lot of good ones, but those are the ones that we feel grow the best in our soil.” The right soil and care With an average growth cycle of about 80 days— depending on the weather—the sweet corn is carefully nurtured from seed to harvest by students like Cantu. That means planting at the best time and depth, delivering the right balance of water and nutrients, and watching for pests like corn ear worms and spider mites along with stresses like summer heat. Choosing the right time to harvest is another critical part of the equation. Salwasser calls it “more art than science” that considers factors such as the girth of an ear—signaling that the kernels are full of water and sugar—and sampling in the field. “There’s a small window of time when the sugar’s the highest and the sugars aren’t turning to starch,” he said. “Picking it at the optimum time is probably the biggest thing.” Freshly picked ears are delivered to cold storage on campus, held there briefly and then sent to the farm
California Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom LearnAboutAg.org
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