Corn sale benefits Moses Lake FFA program

MOSES LAKE — Part of the appeal of a high school club is the chance to go somewhere different, try new skills, learn new things. But going places and trying new things requires travel and sometimes new equipment.

And that, said FFA co-advisor Jessica Homesley, requires forking over some cash. “Everything we do costs money,” she said.

Hence the Moses Lake High School FFA members working the rows in the club’s corn patch, in the field next to MLHS that’s designated as the school farm. “We’re picking to sell as a fundraiser for FFA,” said FFA member Kalyn Clark.

The corn is sold to people who like fresh corn right off the stalk, but don’t have the time, land or interest to cultivate their own. The corn patch takes up half the field, while the rest is planted in pumpkins. Those too will be for sale, when they ripen.

Club member Austin Kern said the proceeds go to a number of different projects, like the trip to the annual state convention. The club also needs parts for its tractor, Austin said, and FFA members want to buy an all-terrain vehicle that will make it easier to navigate and maintain the field.

Co-advisor Erik Nielsen said 2020 was the first year for the corn patch. Part of the project is that FFA members help plant and maintain it, and in fact, Kalyn said, the students were supposed to do a lot of the work.

But this is 2020. Students weren’t allowed on campus at all after all instruction was moved online in mid-March in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The 2020-21 school year started with all classes online, but on-campus movement is a little less restricted than it was in the spring. So FFA members fanned out through the closely packed rows, selecting the ripe ears, packing them back to the truck parked at the edge of the corn patch.

There the ears were checked and packaged for sale, which started with whacking off each end. “We’re cutting the ends off, just in case they have some sort of defect or whatever,” Austin said. Whacking off the ends also makes the corn easier to package, he added.

Corn sales are Tuesdays and Thursdays, and will continue through the end of September. People are encouraged to preorder, using a form available on the FFA’s social media. Club members also sell corn to drive-up customers in the staff parking lot at the west end of the high school.

The pumpkin sale will be in October. Since the field has all those cornstalks, the FFA will be selling bundles of those, too. The dates for the pumpkin and cornstalk sales will be announced.