LEARN MORE ABOUT NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN CORN PRODUCTION

Jul 06, 2011  |  Today's News

Illinois corn farmers are some of the most efficient and technologically advanced in the world.  I don’t need to tell you that, you already know!

Still, there are so many that don’t.  With fewer and fewer farmers making up our general population and fewer and fewer voters and decision makers having any connection to the farm, getting the word out about the way you care about your crop, the environment and your contribution to the country has never been more important.

The Illinois Corn Marketing Board, along with 13 other state corn associations and the National Corn Growers Association, work together as the Corn Farmers Coalition to educate policy-makers in Washington about how innovative farmers are growing more every year with fewer resources while protecting the environment.  And that’s good news.

Today, the Corn Farmers Coalition released the latest update to their Corn Fact Book, a publication that they will share with Washington, DC think takes, policy makers, and staff.  In it, you can find statistics like:

- The highest yields and crop production numbers in history have come over the last eight years.  In 2010, America’s corn farmers produced a 12.4 billion bushel crop – the fourth year in a row with production exceeding 12 billion bushels. That’s enough corn to fill bushel baskets that could circle the globe 127 times.

- America’s corn farmers are by far the most productive in the world, growing 20% more corn per acre than any other nation.

- An acre of corn removes 8 tons of harmful greenhouse gas, more than that produced by your car annually.

- Less than 1 percent of the country’s crop is sweet corn – the kind we eat frozen, from a can or fresh off the cob.  A vast majority of the crop is field corn – yellow corn comprised of starch, fiber, protein and oil. 

Check out the Corn Fact Book.  Consider printing it off to share at church or at the local coffee shop.  There’s definitely more that we can teach others about America’s biggest crop.