First let me say sorry for the error last week. The last sentence in the third paragraph said Most Exports. It should have been MEAT EXPORT FEDERATION (MEF).

 

This week I thought I would talk a little about Illinois agriculture. Illinois has about 26 million acres of farm land. It ranks first in the nation in soybean production and second in corn production.  Having served many years on soybean commodity boards in Illinois and at the national level, I thought I would research a little on Illinois and National corn boards for my comments this week.

The total acres of corn raised in Illinois is around 10,700,000 acres. Of that 10.7 million acres only 1% is corn consumed directly by human. (Sweet corn, Popcorn, white corn) The other 90% is field corn used for livestock feed and industrial use including ethanol.

Corn is one of the largest commodities in American agriculture. (I think by pounds or tons it is the largest commodity raised in the US.)  Corn makes a big contribution to the economy.  The US grew 14.9 billion bushels of corn for grain valued at $64.7 billion in 2024, which earned the title of the world’s largest producer of corn and largest exporter of corn.

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) as do other commodity organizations, asked entrepreneurs, researchers, and startup groups to Consider the Corn Challenge to win a $300,000 award. The Challenge encourages innovation in industries spanning across sustainable chemical, bioplastics, textiles, fuel etc. The goal is to open new uses and elevate corn’s value. Some of the past winners includes;

Lakril Technologies-Corn- Based polymer for paint and coating.

Catalyxx  – converts Ethanol into high value industrial uses.

National Renewable Energy Lab, Develops platform chemical from corn sugars,

Lygos -produces bio-based malonic acid.

I think you will find my book “Your Food- My Adventures” interesting. You can go to Amazon audible and hear Stu Allis read the book.