Some farmers have traditionally taken to measuring the early success of their corn crop at the Independence Day holiday.

“Knee high by the Fourth of July,” the saying goes. Looking around Harford County’s cornfields on the eve of the Fourth of July, it looks like the Summer of 2009 will be a good one for those who grow corn, though it didn’t always seem that way.

All the rain in May might have briefly put a damper on the county’s corn crop, but most say they expect both sweet and field corn to come in strong this summer — if July and August bring both showers and warm temperatures.

John Sullivan III, deputy chief of staff for the county’s department of agriculture, said he thinks the spate of wet weather in May and early June had only a slight, temporary impact on Harford County’s corn production.

“Several grain farmers were late getting corn in, due to the cool, wet spring we had,” Sullivan said.

It is important, however, for the next several months to bring rain as well as heat.

“You never know what August will bring, in terms of a drought,” he said.

The season for sweet corn generally runs from July to the first frost, in September or early October.

Maryland farmers are expected to plant 460,000 acres of corn this year, the same as in 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The vast majority, about 400,000 acres, is expected to be harvested for grain and the rest for silage or other uses, the same amount as last year.

Last year, 11,100 acres of sweet corn were harvested in the state.

Some Harford County farmers, who grow corn for produce, however, started planting corn early and under plastic to protect it, Sullivan said.

One of them, Paula Harman, of Harman’s Farm, in Churchville, said she hopes there will be more rain soon and was not especially upset about the unusually wet May.

“I have learned not to badmouth the rain,” she said. “Corn needs a good amount of rain and also likes heat.”

Her corn has been doing very well so far, she said.

“I don’t think I have seen a better crop in years,” she said.

Bill Hanna, a member of the agricultural advisory board, who grows sweet corn, agreed.

“We had a good early planting,” he said. “I would say sweet corn is right on schedule.”

Nevertheless, there was about a 25 percent drop in the yield of seedlings that got hit by the heavy rain in May, which “kind of crushed it off,” he said.

Focusing on the positive, he added, “There’s still three-quarters of it standing.”

With the unseasonably cooler weather lately, “we need the heat right now to bring it on, and that’s something we have not had,” he said.

Still, he felt very confident about the corn crop this summer.

“I don’t have any worries about it. Unless there is a hurricane or tornado, we would be all right,” he said.

Zachary Rose, of Clear Meadow Farm, in White Hall, grows corn to feed to cattle and other animals.

He said the heavy rain in recent weeks has made the crop less than predictable.

“Some areas look good and some areas don’t. It’s very spotty,” he said, estimating that five to 10 percent of his crop so far has been lost from the overly heavy rain in May. “Right now, we are harvesting wheat, and it’s pretty terrible. It’s really been a challenging planting.”

Rose said the outcome of the corn crop will become clearer in the next few weeks.

“The next two weeks are very crucial, and that’s when the corn starts making an ear. That’s when we are going to need a timely rain,” he said.

About how the crop will end up this summer, “it’s hard to say right now. It’s too early to really judge. If we get rain over the next couple of weeks, we will have a pretty average crop,” he said.

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