The Race to Protect Sweet Corn

We may not always call it sweet corn, but we enjoy this American staple nearly daily. It’s sweet corn that we grill on the Fourth of July, charring the golden ears to get a smoky tang. It’s sweet corn that we buy at summer farmers’ markets to boil and smother in butter and salt. And it’s sweet corn that pops into our beloved crunchy comfort food we crave on movie nights. It’s the type of crop we’d like to stay healthy and plentiful. But climate change—and longer periods of wet cool weather—can turn sweet corn to rust.

For sweet corn growers, it’s a familiar annoyance:, that appear on corn leaves and bode ill for that season’s haul. Caused by the fungus it is a prevalent disease for our staple of summertime picnics and backyard barbecues. In the United