CCFB News» April 2026

I first learned about smut from my dad, the Farmer. Yes, I used the title “Smut” to grab your attention! No, not that kind of smut! Where are your minds, members?

 

The Farmer grew various crops during my childhood. One of the primary crops grown was field corn. On occasion, I would see an ear of corn that looked like it had been taken over by strange alien marshmallows with the purple hue.

Dad called this repulsive growth “corn smut”. He explained that it was an undesirable fungus. I found it really quite undesirable to look at. Disgusting.

 

I was afraid to touch it in case it decided to invade my fingers and hand. Just the name “corn smut” conjured up a gag reflex.

 

That was years ago and I have not thought about corn smut much since. Until recently. I ran across an article with a picture of corn smut in it. Intrigued, I read further.

 

I learned that corn smut goes by several different names: huitlacoche, Mexican truffles, and corn mushrooms among them. A delicacy? Sells for up to $50 a pound? I felt the gag reflex returning.

People eat smut. On purpose.

 

Huitlacoche is in demand for its unique, intense, earthy flavor.

 

 

Researching further about huitlacoche, I saw a YouTube video made by Rick Bayless, American chef, who said huitlacoche is “one of the most amazing flavors on the face of the earth”. It almost made me want to try it. Almost.

My dad, the Farmer, and other Illinois corn farmers have been seeking to eliminate corn smut for decades. University Extension research and publications are widely available on the fungal disease, common corn smut. Fungal infections are usually considered undesirable, destroying crops, weakening/deforming plant parts, or killing the host plant entirely. Fungal pathogens can create massive economic losses to farmers.

 

A bushel of field corn weighing 56 pounds can be sold for $4.50 or so at the grain market today. The Farmer might’ve changed his tune about harvesting a little fungus smut if 50 bucks a pound was in the offering.

 

Farmers are consistently seeking crops and products in demand by consumers that are economically sustainable. Instead of research preventing corn smut, the future may be in determining how to better create a better fungus for cultivation!

Certainly, fields of amber waving corn smut won’t be as nice to look at as a sunflower field.

 

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Cook County Farm Bureau continues to develop quality programs for members. That’s our Member Advantage! Programs for our members with green thumbs. Programs for our members with young families. Programs for our members that like to Go Go Go. Programs for our creative members. Programs for members that want to have fun.

And we have fun getting to know members!

 

Keep the program ideas coming and we will continue to deliver for your advantage!

 

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I wish members could see the fun we are having trying to figure out TikTok. I am at least 40 years too old for this and yet here I am, faced with today’s society and the best ways to communicate in the market feeling like a mystery. Fortunately, Cook County Farm Bureau has some very talented staff members that are patiently explaining it to me. Check us out online so that you can be better prepared to make fun of my attempts!

 

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I’m like so many of our members, preferring to read my newspapers and magazines in hard copy print. I want to touch the pages.

 

One of the challenges (and biggest frustrations) your CCFB office has faced in 2026 has been the inconsistency of postal delivery of our publications. We know that members enjoy and value our publications and are frustrated when they arrive after the intended delivery date. We know that you do not want to miss programs, drawing deadlines, activities, and events.

 

We continue to communicate to the U.S. Postal Service for the best way to streamline delivery. However, delivery inconsistencies have demonstrated the importance of our electronic newsletter deliveries that arrive on a timely basis in a more consistent fashion.

 

I want to encourage every member to share with us your email address so that we can deliver our electronic newsletter versions to you on your schedule, not the post office’s. We will not remove you from the hardcopy version unless you ask us to.

 

If you have not already, please share your preferred email address with [email protected] for happy reading!

 

Corn Smut Photo – University of Minnesota Extension