What You Don't Know About Corn

Field Mom Acre, Corn Sprout 
May 2014

Field Corn is many things. Actually, it's made into more than 4,000 things. But there are two things it is not, sweet corn and popcorn. We learned a lot about corn on our last Field Mom tour and we were given additional resources so that we could go learn more. So, this post, while seemingly rudimentary, is going to shed some more light on corn for those of us on the edge or completely outside of "the cornbelt," physically or metaphorically. For folks concerned about GMOs, I've also included some clarity regarding genetically engineered sweet corn.

There are basically three types of corn (four, if you count flint corn). They are field corn, sweet corn, and popcorn. Corn is actually a grain, not a vegetable, despite the fact we often categorize it with other veggies; and the plant, itself, is a grass. We can eat sweet corn and popcorn unprocessed, but field corn is inedible to us as an unprocessed grain. If you were to bite into field corn, I think the reaction would be something like "Bleh!" It's high in starch, not sweet, and not juicy. Once processed, however, field corn is used in many foods that we consume.

On our recent tour of Jeschke Farms, a 4,000-acre family-owned and -operated corn and soybean farm, we learned how field corn and soybeans are grown. Did you know 95 percent of all corn farms in America are family owned? We learned those farms produce 90 percent of all corn grown in the U.S. The Jeschke’s, and most other corn growers, grow field corn (also called dent corn), which makes up 99 percent of all corn grown. In 2013, the U.S. planted more than 95 million acres of it! For reference, an acre is about the size of a football field. Sweet corn, on the other hand, makes up only about one percent of all corn grown in the U.S. and that’s only about 600,000 planted acres. Compared to field corn, that is a speck on our map! To put it in perspective, that’s less than two-thirds the area of Chautauqua County (in New York) or about four times the size of the city of Chicago! I looked that up three times because I couldn't believe it, myself!

Field Corn (Dent Corn) Kernels

I mentioned that field corn is used to make more than 4,000 products. There is very little waste in corn and just about every last bit is used for something. Here is how field corn breaks down, generally. Between 40 and 50 percent is used to feed livestock and about eight percent of that is used to make dried distillers grains. Dried distillers grains are used for livestock feed. Over 30 percent is used to make the fuel ethanol, over 10 percent is exported to foreign markets, and less than 10 percent of field corn harvested is processed to make food products such as tortillas, sweeteners, starch, cereal, and beverages/alcohol. That is field corn. 

Sweet corn, another type of corn, is what we eat off the cob when we buy it fresh in the produce aisle at the supermarket, fresh at the farm stand or farmer’s market, and it is what we eat canned and frozen. There is nothing like fresh picked corn-on-the-cob if you love to eat corn. Sweet corn is picked just prior to peak ripeness when it is tender, sweet, and juicy, unlike field corn and popcorn, which are dried on the cob in the field. The sooner you eat an ear of sweet corn after it is picked, the tastier it will be. Sweet corn loses sugar, moisture, and flavor very rapidly. If you keep it in the husks and refrigerated in a plastic bag, it will stay moist and flavorful longer than without the husks.

A red variety of popcorn

(photo courtesy of Tietz Family Farms)

Popcorn is the other type of corn that we eat. In contrast to field corn and sweet corn, popcorn is grown by less than 1,000 farms in the U.S. and the majority of those farms raise only 100 to 250 acres of popcorn. Illinois ranks third in the nation for popcorn production. It is also the official Illinois state snack food! Some people might think that you can take any kernel of corn, heat it up, and it will pop. Not so. It has to be a popcorn kernel. Ever wondered how heating a kernel makes it pop into our snack? Ears of popcorn are left to dry on the stalk before they are harvested. The moisture content in a dried kernel is about 14 percent. This little bit of water is what allows it to pop. When the kernel is heated, the water expands and creates steam which cooks the starch inside the kernel. When enough pressure builds up, the kernel pops and turns inside out. The outer shell, called the hull, bursts. I love popcorn and I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the hulls that get stuck between my teeth. A hull-less popcorn variety is available that has a more delicate outer shell and when it bursts, it virtually disintegrates. Each bite of popcorn nearly melts in your mouth, sans hull. It is a beautiful thing. There are two types of popcorn grown commercially, white and yellow. That's what we find at the super-market. I encourage you to try a specialty variety, like the hull-less type. 

Colorful Popcorn Kernels

(photo courtesy of Tietz Family Farms)

There are a wide range of other varieties with blue, black, red, yellow, and white kernel colors (they all pop white or near white). These varieties are often very flavorful; for example, some have nutty flavors, others taste buttery. My boys will eat this popcorn without any salt or butter, it is just so flavorful. I have listed two websites, and there are surely others, where you can mail-order a pound (or three or five!) of some really great tasting popcorn to try. Our family is enjoying popcorn from Tietz Family Farms in Watertown, Wisconsin, and they have a wide variety to choose from. Their web address is http://tietzfamilyfarms.com. I also know of a family-owned popcorn company in Illinois that sells black and crimson varieties. Their web address is http://www.blackjewell.com.

Some folks are concerned about GMOs (biotechnology). All popcorn is non-GMO. Genetically engineered popcorn seed is not currently available anywhere in the world. You may see company labels or marketing material that says their popcorn is non-GMO. It's true, but so is the other one without the label and GMO-targeted marketing.

Genetically engineered sweet corn has been deemed safe for human consumption and nutritionally equivalent to non-GMO sweet corn. Genetically engineered sweet corn seed is commercially available, which means it is available to commercial growers only. You cannot buy genetically engineered sweet corn seed as a backyard gardener. While it is available commercially, genetically engineered sweet corn seed is not widely used. According to gmoanswers.com, last year (2013) less than 25 percent of sweet corn planted in the U.S. for fresh markets was genetically engineered and about ten percent planted for all markets (which includes canned and frozen) was genetically engineered. If you choose to buy non-GMO sweet corn, you can do one of two things. If you are buying fresh produce directly from your grower/farmer, you can ask the grower directly if the corn he/she is selling was grown from genetically engineered seed. It does not have to be organic to be non-GMO. Or, if you are at the super-market, you can look for the USDA Organic seal on the sweet corn label. The USDA Organic seal does not allow for the use of GMOs.

There is a lot to corn, it has a long history, it is versatile, and it is very important to us. The next blog will dive deeper into field corn, how it is grown and what it is used for. I'll also share an explanation of the biotechnology used on corn and the outcomes of using that biotechnology.