This fall harvest season for 2026 hasn’t been an easy one.
We miss having Dad peering out of the big window in the front room of our parents’ home to count the number of grain trailers being hauled off from fields to storage bins and ultimately the grain elevator.
Dad would be sharing the same fears and lament of our neighboring farming friends, with the grave situation about the spike in the cost of diesel fuel needed to operate farm machinery.
The erratic weather of August had already hampered harvesting potential, with too much rain, too little sun, resulting in some soybean pods containing beans that are far undersized, much like the size of BBs. Cornfields have been battered by the storms and standing water, stagnant and standing in rows.
Our farming friends tell us that it is costing as much as $1,000 per semi-load of corn just to truck the harvest from the fields because of diesel fuel costs tipping the scales at $7 a gallon.
Some farmers have already said that because of the cost of seed, fertilizer, irrigation and the utility bill to run the massive driers that dry and prepare grain for selling, they may not be able to afford to plant spring crops in 2027.
While my oldest sister Carol and my twin nephews Bill and Bob (who just celebrated their 46th birthdays on Oct. 1) farm corn, they don’t farm soybeans or other crops.
According to last week’s report from Hoosier Ag Farming: “Farmers are entering another high-pressure period with commodity prices and margins under strain, while fuel and other production costs remain elevated. International conflicts, trade disruptions and continued economic uncertainty are adding even more pressure to already-stretched farm balance sheets. For farmers facing the immediate realities of harvest bills, fuel costs, land payments and operating loans, the question is much more basic: Even if Congress eventually approves billions in farm aid — but farmers don’t receive it until spring — will it arrive soon enough to keep struggling operations in business?”
A balance to the recent worries and concerns of this year’s harvesting fears, our family received a beautiful belated card and note on behalf of our “honorary rural farm folk” friends who also call the Chicago suburbs their home.
“We still have fond memories of when your dad Chester celebrated his 79th birthday in July 2008 surrounded by our families, friends and neighbors and all of his favorite Polish foods,” wrote Harry Maranowicz.
“Our family was so sorry to hear of his passing last December at age 96. What a wonderful life and how blessed we all were to share those summer weekends together so many years ago at our annual large barbecue and corn boil.”
Harry and his family owned the neighboring “retired” dairy farm not far from our own family farm, and their equally large Polish family kept the traditions started by Harry’s father Bruno, who died in 1989.
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It was Bruno’s parents who came from Poland and purchased the tiny 80-acre dairy farm near our farm. It was during those summers two decades ago that Harry and family would “come down from the city, aka Downers Grove, Illinois,” and spend their weekends at the farm. For a decade, they held the tradition of hosting a large July gathering, which features favorite Polish meats and recipes from both the city and farm.
Harry and four of his siblings would always attend these Saturday farm parties, along with our neighboring farm friends the Wappels and the Scamerhorns.
Clara Mae Rucka, Harry’s youngest sister, of Hoffman Estates, Illinois, would make her mother’s favorite recipe for tiny Polish dumplings called “Kopytka,” a treasured recipe I included in my “Further From the Farm” cookbook published in 2010.
When it was time for serving the dinner buffet, the spread was laid out on a long table near the immaculately clean dairy cow stalls with never a fly in sight! Just outside and adjacent to the barn, for more than half a century, the concrete corn silo attached to the dairy barn was adorned with a painted advertisement for Miller High Life Beer.
In recent years, I’ve happened upon the yummy discovery of what’s referred to as “street corn” or “elote,” a Mexican menu favorite sold by both street vendors and as a delicious side accompaniment.
I asked kitchen friends Maria E. Arteaga and her husband, Executive Chef Hugo Francisco Perea, of 10Forty Banquets and Catering based at The Center for Visual and Performing Arts, 1040 Ridge Road in Munster, to share their favorite elote recipe with readers. Chef Hugo has a 35-year history as a fine dining fixture in the ballroom of the CVPA, with more history details found at www.cvpa.org.
Columnist Philip Potempa has published four cookbooks and is a weekly radio host at WJOB 1230 AM. He can be reached at [email protected] or mail your questions: From the Farm, PO Box 68, San Pierre, Ind. 46374.
Chef Hugo’s family favorite Mexican Street Corn
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
4 ears of sweet corn on the corn
1/2 cup soft spreadable butter
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup Cotija cheese
Chili powder to taste
Wooden skewers
Directions
1. Boil the corn on the cob in water with a pinch of sugar and salt until “shiny and tender,” about 4 minutes in a rolling boil.
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2. When tender, remove corn and shake off any excess water.
3. Corn will be very hot; carefully use a thick wooden skewer to insert into the end of the cob to serve as a handle.
4. Rub the corn lightly with butter.
5. Use a spatula and rub a generous layer of mayo over the hot corn kernels, and then spoon the Cotija cheese all over the corn as a new flavor layer. Cheese will stick to the mayonnaise.
6. Add more butter if desired and sprinkle with chili powder to taste.
7. For a “less messy” version, follow the same cooking instructions for the corn, but instead cut the kernels off the cob into a bowl or cup and then add in the layered ingredients, using a spoon to blend all together before serving warm and adjusting seasoning accordingly.