GLENBURN (AP) – Helped by recent hot weather, Maine farmers are beginning to harvest their sweet corn, putting to rest fears that record rains in the spring had ruined the crops.

Frank Thomas was up at 4 a.m. on Friday picking 700 dozen ears from his fields in Glenburn for local supermarkets.

Thomas, who supplies four farm stands and a number of area Hannaford stores, said he was hurt by the heavy rains in May and June. But he was helped by the mild early spring, which allowed him to plant in April on high, dry fields – which is why he is already harvesting his crop.

With the recent hot weather, Thomas said he can stand in a cornfield on a calm night and actually hear the stalks growing.

“They squeak,” he said.

Many northern New England farmers, particularly in New Hampshire and Vermont, said their sweet corn season was a washout with torrential rains that washed away plants and turned fertile fields into bogs.

Maine officials now report that the early corn harvest is in full swing in southern Maine and rapidly developing in central Maine with warm weather and good moisture. The sweet corn crop varies from farm to farm, depending on whether farmers were able to plant safely before heavy spring rains and, if washed out, replant before the second round of rains began.

Dean Cray was checking his corn in a field in Palmyra early Friday, grumbling about raccoon damage but proclaiming it one of the best crops he has seen. He expects to have fresh corn at his U.S. Route 2 farm stand by Monday morning.

“I only lost about three acres to rain,” Cray said.

In northern Maine, the crop is still three weeks from harvest.

Leo McAvoy at Mac’s Best Produce in Benedicta, 40 miles from the Canadian border, said he planted later than normal because of heavy rains. His crop, however, looks great and is growing well.

The biggest concern for many farmers now is the harmful insects that have swept into Maine.

David Handley, a small fruit and vegetable specialist at the University of Maine’s Highmoor Farm in Monmouth, said several storm fronts that moved in from the south and west last weekend carried moths with them, including the European corn borer, corn earworm and the fall army worm.

“We can expect feeding injury from (the fall army worm) to start becoming more prevalent,” he said.

Insect damage can sharply reduce farmers’ profits.

All of Maine’s sweet corn production is for the fresh market, and Maine growers make a profit only on sweet corn that can be sold as the highest pest-free quality. Corn that must be sold for lower quality or used for feed may be sold for less than the cost of production.

Maine farmers grow sweet corn on 2,000 acres of farmland. The average annual production value over the last three years has been $3.9 million.