America Leads the WorldFood consumption is rising in developing countries. There are billions of hungry people in the world and their numbers are in-creasing. The Food and Agricul-ture Organization of the United Nations reports that the number of people living with hunger will continue to rise over the next 30 years. New production technologies offer great prom-ise for increasing productivity to meet the growing demands of world consumers. For decades, corn growers have worked for continuous improvement and greater efficiency. That all has led to major increases in bushels produced, and at the same time reduced the amount of land needed to grow corn. American farmers have continued to be the world’s top exporters of corn, satisfy-ing the demands of customers around the world. There is more food per capita today on a global scale than ever before, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. And corn growers are investing in international marketing efforts. Too often, the problem is getting the food where it needs to be due to lack of roadways and transportation, access to capital, political unrest, and other factors that result in global hunger.

Corn PuttyPlay with it like clay, then watch it become liquid again. 1 cup cornstarch 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon water food coloring

Blend mixture with fork. It should flow when the bowl is tipped but feel solid when you touch it. If it’s too thick, add a little water. If it’s too runny, add a little cornstarch.

Use Corn To Make Your Own… Biodegradable Plastic 1. Place a tablespoon of cornstarch in a paper cup or plastic bag. 2. Add two drops of corn oil to the cornstarch. 3. Add 1-1/2 tablespoons of water to the oil and cornstarch. 4. Stir the mixture. 5. Add two drops of your favorite food coloring to the mixture and stir well.

Microwave your biodegradable plastic for 20-25 seconds on high. 1. What happens to your plastic? 2. Form your plastic into a ball and describe what it will do.

Scientific Observations... 1. What do you notice about your biodegradable plastic? 2. Is your biodegradable plastic the same as the other students’ plastic? 3. What could you make with this biodegradable plastic if you let it harden?

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,

Nebraska, and Minnesota account for over 64% of the

corn grown in the United States.

Other major growing states are Wisconsin, South Dakota, Michigan,

Missouri, Kansas, Ohio, and Kentucky. These states are known as

the “Corn Belt.”

Where Does All That Corn Go?In 2009 there were 86.5 million acres planted. An acre is about the size of a football field. There were 79.6 million acres harvested and 13.1 billion bushels of corn produced. A bushel of corn weighs 56 pounds. That all added up to an average of 165.2 bushels of corn per acre.

Field corn is processed to make products you use every day. Processing means changing field corn into different usable products through a series of events. The corn is soaked and milled (ground) so that the germ oil, starch, gluten and hulls can be separated. These items are then made into cornstarch, cooking oil, sweeteners, high fructose corn syrup, cereal, beverages, and fuel. And that’s just the beginning!

U.S. Corn Usage by Segment2009

Feed &Residual

42.5%

FuelEthanol

32.1%

How are these two cars the same?

Both can run on ethanol-blended fuels.

Want to know more about this high-performance fuel?

Read on to see how corn is involved!

The IndyCar Series uses 100% ethanol.

One Bushel of Corn Provides: 32 pounds of starch, OR

33 pounds of sweetener, OR

2.8 gallons of ethanol fuel AND

11.4 pounds of gluten feed

AND 3 pounds of gluten meal

AND 1.6 pounds of corn oil.

Export

15.7%

3.5%

Kent and Isabella ChismChism Farms, Inc.Galveston, Indiana

How did you get involved with corn production?We have been raising corn on our farm for 30 years. The corn we grow is used for food, fiber and fuel.

Tell us about your farm.We raise a waxy corn that is used to make cornstarch and a corn that’s used to feed livestock (swine, cattle and poultry). Some of that same corn is used to make ethanol, a fuel. Weather plays a critical part in growing corn. The soil needs to be above 50 degrees to germinate the seed, so we usually plant corn from mid-April to early-May. We put fertilizer on the ground in the fall so that the ground is ready for planting in the spring. In spring, we use a field cultivator pulled by a tractor to loosen the soil. Cultivating prepares the soil for the seed and kills weeds.Next we plant the seed with a planter pulled by a tractor. The planter puts the kernel of seed an inch and a half below the surface of the ground, with seeds spaced 6 inches apart. We use GPS (Global Positioning System) to adjust the rate of fertilizer applied based on what the soil needs. This same system also will help us drive the tractor and combine (a piece of farm equipment typically used for harvesting) to keep the rows straight. It keeps track of the amount of seed and fertil-izer that is applied, too. When the corn plant is 2-3 inches tall, we spray the field with a herbicide to kill weeds. If we don’t use a herbicide, the weeds take away nutrients and water that the corn plant needs to grow. Herbicides are very expensive and we use the least amount needed to do the job.Corn needs a lot of nitrogen to grow, so we put some between the rows. The plants continue to grow all summer long. By about the Fourth of July, a tassel will grow out the top of the plant. It will drop pollen onto the silks. Below the silks, kernels of corn form on the ears. When the corn plant has matured, the kernels will begin to dry. When the moisture in the kernels gets to about 22-25 percent, usually at the end of September and the first part of October, we begin harvest-ing the crop with the combine. The corn is hauled from the field in trucks or semis. We store some of the corn in bins on the farm and take the rest to an elevator (grain terminal).

What subjects in school have helped you the most as a producer?We use a lot of math, science and computer skills on the farm. Math is useful for calculating seeds per acre, formulas for nutrients we apply to the corn and budgets, as well as for record-keeping. Science is needed to understand the stages of plant growth, soil makeup and what you need to make the corn grow most efficiently. Computer skills are important in this information and technology age. They will help you work with GPS and reporting programs, and they help with information gathering and analyzing.

Where do you see corn production headed?Growing corn will continue to be a very important part of our lives. The world population (currently 6.8 billion and predicted to grow to 9.2 billion by 2050) keeps growing so it will be important to feed people and livestock. More people need more food and we can’t make more earth, so we try to do the best with what we have and take care of the soil, air and water so it will continue to produce good corn for many generations.

Luis VerdeSenior Research Manager, Maize Product DevelopmentPioneer, a DuPont businessDallas Center, Iowa

Please explain your job.I am a plant breeder working to improve corn plants and seeds. Plant breeding is defined as the art and science of improving plant genetics. In the U.S., most of the corn sold is hybrid corn. Hybrids are a cross between plants with different characteristics, and my job is to develop corn seeds that farmers across the country can plant and grow. The development of a new seed or plant requires several years and extensive testing. To be successful, plant breeders need to know about and be able to interact with experts in several areas: genetics, statistics, molecular biology, plant pathology, entomology, plant physiology, and others.

What subjects in school have helped you the most in your job?During school I always enjoyed biology and that gave me a really good understanding of the develop-ment and stages that plants go through during their life cycle. Later, I became more and more interested in the genetic aspects of organisms, and I believe that understanding genetics is the key to being a suc-cessful plant breeder. I also think my experience pollinating corn in high school was fun and gave me a really good idea of how hybrid plants are developed.

What is going on in the corn industry today?It is an exciting time in crop genetics, especially in corn breeding. Breeders are using new methods and technologies that are helping to increase yield and improve desirable plant traits faster. For example, by chipping off a small corner of the kernels and using molecular markers to understand genes in that kernel, we are evaluating plants even before they get planted. This allows breeders to evaluate a higher number of plants in a shorter amount of time, which saves money. It is also an exciting time for farm-ers. The potential for bigger and more efficient harvests and plants with stronger roots is greater than ever. In addition, new genetic traits bred into the seed will limit the need for insecticides and herbi-cides. This allows farmers to achieve better yields, fewer pest problems, lower production costs and is better for the environment.

Where do you see the corn industry in the future? The demand for food and energy is growing, and corn is a key crop to supply this demand in the future. Therefore, breeders need to continue their work on increasing productivity while devoting time to key traits that will meet the challenges that the farmers are facing. The ability to develop drought-tolerant hybrids will be critical as the human population continues to increase and water becomes a limiting factor in many places. Finally, I think a new demand for corn will appear as new renewable plant-based products like bio-plastics continue to be developed.

The Winners’ Circle

The prototype for this Corn Ag Mag was developed and provided by:

For more online resources about agriculture visit www.myamericanfarm.org

This issue provided by: Fonts used:Trajan ProRegular & Bold

To learn more about agriculture, visit us at www.agfoundation.org, or American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture, 600 Maryland Avenue SW, Suite 1000W, Washington, DC 20024 or call 1-800-443-8456.

National Learning Standards for AFBFA Corn Ag MagSocial Studies• NSS-EC.K-4.3 Allocating Goods and Services • NSS-EC.K-4.5 Voluntary Exchange• NSS-EC.K-4.6 Gain from Trade • NSS-EC.K-4.9 Competition in the Marketplace • NSS-EC.K-4.16 Government in the Economy• NSS-G.K-12.1 The World in Spatial Terms • NSS-G.K-12.5 Environment and Society • NSS-USH.K-4.1 Living and Working Together in Families and Communities, Now and Long AgoLanguage Arts • NL-ENG.K-12.1 Reading for Perspective • NL-ENG.K-12.3 Evaluation Strategies • NL-ENG.K-12.7 Evaluating Data • NL-ENG.K-12.8 Developing Research Skills Physical Education and Health• NPH-H.K-4.1 Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

Math• NM-NUM.3-5.1 Understand Numbers,

Ways of Representing Numbers, Relation-ships Among Numbers, and Number Systems

• NM-DATA.3-5.1 Formulate Questions That Can Be Addressed With Data and Collect, Organize, and Display Relevant Data to Answer

• NM-DATA.3-5.3 Develop and Evaluate Inferences and Predictions That Are Based on Data

Science• NS.K-4.3 Life Science • NS.K-4.5 Science and Technology • NS.K-4.6 Science in Personal and Social

Perspectives • NS.K-4.7 History and Nature of Science

Other 6.2%High Fructose

Corn Syrup

Sources: USDA, ERS Feed Outlook 1/10

Sources: NCGA, worldofcorn.com

The 2008 Chevy Impala LTZ can use E85, an 85% ethanol blend.

08_7163 Corn Ag Mag_nh.indd 1 5/16/10 11:10 PM

What’s Inside That Seed?

This Food is on the Fast TrackCan you find corn at the racetrack concession stand? Would you look for corn on the cob? Or a can of corn? How about a bag of frozen corn? That kind of corn is called sweet corn. It’s the kind of corn that is grown in gardens. You probably won’t find it at the concession stand.

You may find popcorn at the racetrack. That’s right, popcorn is another type of corn that we eat. There is a little bit of water in every kernel of popcorn. When the kernel is heated, the water heats and builds up pressure. The pressure makes the water take up all the available space. When enough pressure builds up, the kernel pops and turns inside out.

There is another kind of food that you can find at the food stand. Its called field corn. Most of the corn grown in the United States is field corn. This type of corn is used to feed animals and make products like glue, sandpaper, and medicines. You eat field corn, too. It is made into corn sweetener, starch, meal, and oil. These are important ingredients in foods we eat everyday.

Plant to Plastic in No Time FlatPretend that you are at the racetrack and you just finished drinking a soda. What would you do with the cup and straw? You would probably throw it away, right? Most Styrofoam cups and plastic straws end up in landfills. As a nation, we add 2.3 millions tons of these products to our landfills each year.

Corn can be made into a special plastic that will help our environment. It is called corn plastic and it is biodegradable. Biodegradable means that it breaks down into little pieces that become part of the soil, instead of adding to our landfills. Styrofoam and plastic products do not biodegrade.

There are a lot of things made from plastic: shopping bags, trash bags, and packing peanuts. Some grocery stores and food processors such as DelMonte use corn-plastic packaging for their fresh food items. The food stands at Brookfield Zoo near Chicago use plastic knives, spoons, and forks made from corn. During the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, more than 35 million forks, straws, and drink cup lids were made from biodegradable corn plastic.

At the 2002 Olympics in Utah, Coca-Cola refused to sell drinks in anything but recyclable plastic. Today, some brands of carpet and the stuffing in pillows and bed comforters are sometimes made from corn plastic that has been spun like cotton.

Turn the page to learn how you can make your own corn plastic.

Transportation andthe World MarketThe United States is a great place to grow corn. We actually grow more than we can use. We sell this extra corn to other countries. This is called exporting. Corn can be loaded onto large, flat boats called barges and shipped via rivers to ports on the ocean cheaper than if it was hauled by semi trucks or trains. Once at the ports, corn is loaded into large ships and sent around the world.

The graph at the right shows the top 10 countries that buy U.S. corn. See if you can find each of the countries on the world map. Now, choose a route that might have been taken to deliver the corn grown in the U.S. to each country.

Put a check by all the concession stand foods you think are made with corn. ❑ Soda ❑ Popcorn ❑ Candy bars ❑ Potato chips ❑ Hotdog buns ❑ Ketchup ❑ Mustard ❑ Cookies ❑ Nachos ❑ Bubble gum ❑ Corn chips ❑ Ice creamDid you check everything on the list? That’s right! All of these foods are made with corn sweetener, starch, meal, and oil!

It’s a Fantastic Wa

y to Finish!

Find the corn in this sentence:

Photo finish means that two racecars were so close to one another that

an official has to look at a photograph to see which car crossed the finish

line first.

What? You can’t find the corn in that sentence? Look again.

• Corn is made into ethanol that fuels the car.

• Corn is used to make windshield washer fluid.

• Corn is used to make paint, like the flashy colors on a racecar.

• Corn is made into a powder called cornstarch. Cornstarch is

sprinkled on a tire mold before pouring rubber into it. The cornstarch

stops the rubber tire from sticking to the mold.

• Cornstarch also stops the fiberglass body of the car from sticking to

its mold.

• Sparkplugs are the part of the car that “get it going.” The porcelain

(glass) on sparkplugs is made with cornstarch too.

• Even the film used to take the photograph is made with cornstarch.

Wow! It starts as corn and finishes as a racecar! Keep reading to learn

what other exciting finishes are waiting for corn.

This Food is on the Fast Track

Popcorn

Sweet Corn

Field Corn

Endosperm - holds the energy and protein the new plant will use to begin to grow. This area is full of starch, which is used the most in corn processing. Pericarp (seed coat) - outside cover of the seed. It protects the inside of the seed from cold temperatures, moisture, and insects until the seed is ready to germinate. Germ - only living part of the seed and will become the new plant. It has all of the genetics, vitamins, and minerals for a new plant to be created. There is also oil inside of the germ, which is the most valuable part of the corn kernel when it is processed. Tip cap - where the kernel was attached to the cob. As the kernel grew on the cob it took in water and nutrients from this area.

309

205

14292725647

Leading U.S. Corn Export Markets(million bushels)

Pericarp (seed coat)

Germ

Endosperm

Tip Cap

Find the corn in this sentence:

Photo finish means that two racecars were so close to one another that

an official has to look at a photograph to see which car crossed the finish

line first.

What? You can’t find the corn in that sentence? Look again.

• Corn is made into ethanol that fuels the car.

• Corn is used to make windshield washer fluid.

• Corn is used to make paint, like the flashy colors on a racecar.

• Corn is made into a powder called cornstarch. Cornstarch is

sprinkled on a tire mold before pouring rubber into it. The cornstarch

stops the rubber tire from sticking to the mold.

• Cornstarch also stops the fiberglass body of the car from sticking to

its mold.

• Sparkplugs are the part of the car that “get it going.” The porcelain

(glass) on sparkplugs is made with cornstarch, too.

• Even the film used to take the photograph is made with cornstarch.

Wow! It starts as corn and finishes as a racecar! Keep reading to learn

what other exciting finishes are waiting for corn.

618

3928

· An ear of corn averages 800 kernels in 16 rows.

· A pound of corn consists of approximately 1,300 kernels.

· 100 bushels of corn produces approximately 7,280,000 kernels.

Japan

South Korea

Mexico

Taiwan

EgyptCanadaColumbia

Venezuela

DominicanRepublic

Cuba

Source: USDA, ERS Feed Outlook 1/4/10

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