Corn

Did you know…

Corn is America's number one field crop? Corn leads all other crops in value and volume of production.

Below are some more interesting facts about corn...

Corn Math

• A pound of corn consists of approximately 1,300 kernels.
• 100 bushels of corn produces approximately 7,280,000 kernels.
• Each year, a single U.S. farmer provides food and fiber for 129 people - 97 in the U.S. and 32 overseas.
• In the US corn production measures more than 2 times that of any other crop.
• Over 55% of Iowa's corn goes to foreign markets. The rest is used in other parts of the United States.

Corn Products

• Your bacon and egg breakfast, glass of milk at lunch, or hamburger for supper were all produced with U.S. corn.
• Corn is a major component in many food items like cereals, peanut butter, snack foods and soft drinks.
• U.S. researchers have led the way in finding many uses for corn - like in vitamins and amino acids.
• Corn is used to produce fuel alcohol. Fuel alcohol makes gasoline burn cleaner, reducing air pollution, and it doesn't pollute the water.

Corn Geography

• Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Minnesota account for over 50 percent of the corn grown in the U.S.  Other major corn growing states are Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Michigan, Missouri, Kansas and Kentucky.
• The "Corn Belt" includes the states of Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Michigan, Missouri, Kansas and Kentucky.
• Corn is produced on every continent of the world with the exception of Antarctica.
• The area known as the "Pacific Rim" region (in Asia) is emerging as the world's fastest growing market for U.S. corn.  There, most of the corn is fed to livestock to produce food for humans.  The majority of the world's population is located in the Pacific Rim region.
• Exports are critical to the well being of American agriculture.  Nearly one third of our nation's corn crop is targeted for exports.

The ideal way to cook fresh corn on the cob

"Dip it in boiling water for only a few seconds".  The corn on the cob our great-grandmothers ate was starchy field corn that had to be boiled for a half hour or more to become tender. Gradually, sweet corn hybrids containing more and more sugar were developed.  That's why the fresh corn you may have eaten as you grew up was tender after cooking for only three minutes and, eventually, just one minute.  Today you'll find even newer, super-sweet corn varieties that contain so much sugar, up to 30 percent, that you need only heat them through, which takes less than a minute.  Some super-sweet corn overcomes the biggest challenge to enjoying fresh corn at peak sweetness the loss of sweetness over time.  Corn starts converting its sugar to starch once it is picked, leading fanatics to run freshly picked ears right to a pot of boiling water to enjoy them at their sweetest.  But certain super-sweet varieties have been bred to delay the conversion of sugar to starch for up to two weeks.  This means that even ears of corn you buy at the supermarket can taste sugar sweet.

Where does America's corn go?

Characteristics of a typical Illinois farm

· Illinois' 76,000 farms cover more than 28 million acres -- nearly 80 percent of the state's total land area.

· The average size of an Illinois farm including hobby farms is 368 acres.

· Most farm acreage is devoted to grain, mainly corn and soybeans.

· Nearly 10 percent of Illinois farms have swine.

· Beef cows are found on about 23 percent of farms, while about 3 percent have dairy cows.

· Some farms produce specialty crops and livestock, including alfalfa, canola, nursery products, emus and fish.

· Many farming operations also support recreational activities such as hunting and fishing.