Some Vancouver Island farmers say this corn season is off to a great start.

鈥淭he weather has been really good,鈥� Silver Rill Corn general manager and co-owner Clayton Fox of Saanich Peninsula said. 鈥淐orn likes a lot of heat so the weather has been perfect for it. We鈥檝e got a long way to go. We anticipate great quality products all the way through the season.鈥�

Sluggett Farms co-owner Larry Sluggett agreed that this season has been better than normal, and he also believes this will continue.

鈥淭he last forecast I saw showed that the next couple of weeks will be warmer than it usually is,鈥� Sluggett said. 鈥淪omething that will happen as a result of that is the crops are maturing earlier. In theory, we will have corn from the middle of July right through to the middle of October. It鈥檚 ripening sooner than planned now so our season may end earlier. The corn that we planted the first week of June is probably going to mature during September.鈥�

Fox said this year has been very dry, but his work days have mainly been business as usual.

鈥淲e compensate for the dryness by irrigating more and more.鈥�

Last season, Sluggett had corn until the middle of October and then killer frost appeared.

鈥淲hen that happens, it basically ends the season because the frost kills the plants. It stops it dead in its tracks. That happens now and then and is really unpredictable.鈥�

Fox said the last corn season was one of the shortest he has ever experienced.

鈥淲e had a slow start and a hot fall. It was busy when it was on, but we had to stop on Thanksgiving. It was too ripe at that point, Usually, we are able to keep going for a few more weeks. This year is going to be longer.鈥�

A current problem for farmers continues to be ongoing labour issues.

鈥淲e鈥檙e still having some challenges with getting boots on the ground and getting people who want to work out in the heat and in the fields, Fox said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a tricky situation, and it鈥檚 a money issue. You have to pay more to get local people to do those jobs.鈥�

Sluggett said the lack of young local farmers adds to the problem.

鈥淢ost of the farmers in the Saanich Peninsula area are getting up there in years. There are a lot of young people that want to get into it, but it鈥檚 difficult. The price of raw land has gone up quite a bit. It gets to a situation where you can鈥檛 make enough money to make it profitable.鈥�

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