For 41 years the Tuxedo Corn Company of Olathe Colorado has been growing and shipping its popular Olathe Sweet-brand sweet corn to grocery stores all over North America. This year’s harvest began early Thursday morning, with crews out to hand-pick the corn.

This season Tuexdo Corn Company founder and farmer John Harold had planned to ship 600,000 boxes of corn to deliver his large Kroger contract. At 48 ears per box, the estimated yield in 2023 was 28.8 million ears. An infestation of ear worms has curtailed that estimate. Harold said he expects to ship about 100,000 fewer boxes than normal, with crews picking around the infested plants.

The company is the largest grower of sweet corn in Colorado, with tens of thousands of acres of rural Olathe countryside planted each year. The corn is usually picked by hand due to the tenderness of its kernels, but this year workers are inspecting every single plant carefully to avoid the ear worms.

Once the corn is harvested, it’s boxed, iced and ready for delivery. Consumers can expect to see the corn in Colorado grocery stores in the coming days and weeks.