For corn-fed animals, the efficiency of converting grain to meat and dairy calories ranges from roughly 3 percent to 40 percent, depending on the animal production system in question. Yes, the corn fed to animals does produce valuable food to people, mainly in the form of dairy and meat products, but only after suffering major losses of calories and protein along the way. Only a tiny fraction of the national corn crop is directly used for food for Americans, much of that for high-fructose corn syrup. corn, plus distillers grains left over from ethanol production, is fed to cattle, pigs and chickens). corn is used for ethanol) and as animal feed (roughly 36 percent of U.S. Today’s corn crop is mainly used for biofuels (roughly 40 percent of U.S. corn is a highly productive crop, with typical yields between 140 and 160 bushels per acre, the resulting delivery of food by the corn system is far lower. After all, feeding people is why agriculture exists in the first place.Īlthough U.S. While other goals-especially producing income, creating jobs and fostering rural development-are critically important too, the ultimate success of any agricultural system should be measured in part by how well it delivers food to a growing population. Most people would agree that the primary goal of agriculture should be feeding people. The American corn system is inefficient at feeding people. The current corn system is not a good thing for America for four major reasons. However, many are beginning to question corn as a system: how it dominates American agriculture compared with other farming systems how in America it is used primarily for ethanol, animal feed and high-fructose corn syrup how it consumes natural resources and how it receives preferential treatment from our government. It has been a pillar of American agriculture for decades, and there is no doubt that it will be a crucial part of American agriculture in the future. As a crop, corn is highly productive, flexible and successful. And it can be turned into ethanol, high-fructose corn syrup or even bio-based plastics.īut it is important to distinguish corn the crop from corn the system. ![]() It can be used as animal feed to help fatten our hogs, chickens and cattle. Corn can be used for food as corn flour, cornmeal, hominy, grits or sweet corn. Plus, it can be turned into a staggering array of products. ![]() crops, and it grows nearly anywhere in the country, especially thriving in the Midwest and Great Plains. It has incredibly high yields compared with most other U.S. The main reason is that corn is such a productive and versatile crop, responding to investments in research, breeding and promotion. So why do we, as a nation, grow so much corn? No other American crop can match the sheer size of corn. You can drive from central Pennsylvania all the way to western Nebraska, a trip of nearly 1,500 miles, and witness it in all its glory. Sprawling across the Midwest and Great Plains, the American Corn Belt is a massive thing. Nothing dominates the American landscape like corn. This essay was posted initially on and is reprinted here with permission.
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