Do you know what the largest commodity grown in the USA is? It’s one of the most plentiful and well-known crops out there. If you guessed corn, you would be correct!
The reason corn is such a primary crop for the American farmer and U.S. agriculture is because it can be taken from a tiny seed, planted in a furrow, to growing with a bit of fertilizer, rain and sunshine to be made into so many valuable things that we all use daily.
I know that’s a hard concept to believe, but I’ll give you some examples: food for humans, feed for cattle, fuel for your vehicles, in industrial products and to be exported from our country for a profit.
Corn is a valuable feed for beef/dairy cattle, pigs, chickens and turkeys. It is the main source of energy for almost all the animals to grow and be made into food for us.
It is so important to livestock farmers that the corn can be planted in mid to late May and harvested in mid-September – approximately 125 days. The farmers can harvest 20 to 30 tons per acre of corn silage (chopping the entire plant) versus hay, which makes about two tons per acre. So it takes fewer acres to feed our herds to produce more. Even though you can feed animals straight hay, hay is a low energy/high protein feed. Corn is a low protein feed but high in energy/carbohydrates to help with the marbling of muscle and milk production. It makes it so much better for the end product.
Then we farmers let it continue to mature and die and dry down and harvest just the golden yellow grain in October and November for food for us as well as fuel in our cars and heavy trucks. Corn can be processed into a renewable fuel called ethanol that’s added to gasoline or biodiesel.
It is a major economic driver in the U.S. and for the whole world. What industrial products do you think corn is used in? The variety is pretty endless, from starch, corn oil and soaps to paints and biodiesel.
Grain corn is also a major export from the USA to all over the world. We sell up to 20% of the total production crop each year.
Did you also know that corn is technically a grass? That very small seed that I mentioned above is actually growing at the bottom of the stalk when it’s fully matured. It also makes for great decor for your front porch for the upcoming fall holidays!
It is also made into some adult beverages: whiskey, bourbon and moonshine. I know a lot of people consume these products from time to time – all from locally grown corn.
A special thank you to Megan Goldstein for taking my thoughts for this article and running with it and making it great.
by Farmer Ben Simons
