Why Is Summer So Sticky In Sioux Falls This Year

Corn Sweats: The Midwest’s Sweaty Little Secret

Alright folks, let’s talk about something that only the Midwest could bless us with: corn sweats. Yep, you read that right. Not your sweats after hauling hay or mowing the yard — we’re talkin’ cornfields getting all hot and bothered and putting out serious moisture into the air.

Sounds weird, right? But it’s real, and if you’ve spent a summer here in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, you’ve definitely felt it! Today, you'll really feel it!

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Here’s the deal: corn, just like any living thing, needs to 'breathe'! During the day, especially when it’s hot, corn plants suck up water from the soil and release it into the air through a process called transpiration. Basically, those corn plants out in the fields they’re sweating. And when you’ve got millions of acres of corn doing that at once? Bam, it turns the whole Midwest into a big ol’ steamy sauna. No fancy spa needed.

Today, we get the full Monty. It’s not your imagination — it’s corn sweats. One acre of corn can release up to 4,000 gallons of water into the air per day. Multiply that by thousands of fields? No wonder your hair won’t stay straight and your shirt sticks to your back before 10 a.m.

Growing up on a farm in Kennebec, South Dakota, we didn't have lots of corn fields, but we still got the humidity. I figured it came from the grass and other crops growing out there.

I used to think the heavy air was just part of summer. Little did I know, it was the cornfields working overtime. So next time you’re wiping sweat off your brow, thank your local corn crop. It's not just feeding America — it’s making you glisten and shine and drip like you just ran a marathon, even if you just walked to your car.

Stay cool out there, Sioux Falls. And don’t be too mad at the corn, it’s just doing its thing. But maybe go easy on the hair products till October.

merch