DID YOU KNOW? SOME FACTS ABOUT CORN...

DID YOU KNOW?

DID YOU KNOW?

The cereal "Corn Flakes" was invented all the way back in the 1890's. The Kellogg brothers, at their plant in Battle Creek, Michigan discovered that wheat could be flattened into small thin flakes. Then, when baked these flakes became crisp and light. The food was an instant success.

One bushel of corn produces enough corn flakes to make 38 boxes. That means the cost of the corn for the consumer is less than a nickel per 12 ounces of cereal.

DID YOU KNOW?

An ear of corn averages 800 kernels in 16 rows. A pound of corn consists of approximately 1300 kernels. 100 bushels of corn produces approximately 7,280,000 kernels.

DID YOU KNOW?

Popcorn's nutritional value comes from the fact that, like other cereal grains, its primary function is to provide the body with heat and energy. Microwave popcorn is the same as other popcorn except the kernels are usually larger and the package is designed for maximum pop ability. Americans today consume 17.3 billion quarts of popped popcorn each year! The average American eats about 68 quarts per year.

DID YOU KNOW?

In the average supermarket, more than 4,200 products contain corn. It is difficult to go through a day without having corn involved in some part of your day's activities. Some of the many products produced using corn include: clothing, livestock feed, soda, paper, ink, lotion, fireworks, detergents, alcohol, toothpaste, aspirin, glue, canned goods, batteries, crayons, shoe polish, marshmallows, paint

DID YOU KNOW?

Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Minnesota account for over 50 percent of the corn grown in the U.S. Other major growing states are Indiana, Ohio, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Michigan, Missouri, Kansas and Kentucky. This area is known as the "Corn Belt".

Corn is produced on every continent of the world with the exception of Antarctica.

DID YOU KNOW?

There's more than one kind of corn grown, and the corn you ear on the bob is very different from the majority of corn you see growing in the cornfields:

Dent or field corn- the majority of corn grown in the U.S. is of this type. It contains 85 percent starch and can be used to make everything from livestock feed to fuel ethanol to corn syrup and sweeteners to cornstarch and industrial products.

Sweet corn- corn on the cob and canned corn that you buy in the grocery store are sweet corn; it has high sugar content and is harvested when the plant is immature and the kernels are still soft.

Food grade corn- includes blue, white high amylase and other corns used in production of food products, such as cornbread or tortillas; food-grade corn is grown for its specific milling traits

• Domestic livestock feed - 61%
• Exported - 18%
• Ethanol (fuel) - 6%
• High Fructose (sweetener) - 6%
• All others - 9%

DID YOU KNOW?

The world's only Corn Palace was built in 1892 in Mitchell, South Dakota to celebrate the farmer's harvest and as a tribute to the agricultural heritage of South Dakota.

It takes more than 3,000 bushels of specially colored corn as well as grains and grasses to decorate the Corn Palace's exterior walls each year. Every year more than 500,000 people flock to see the Corn Palace and so do countless birds who think it's the biggest bird feeder in the world.