Corn Fun Facts!
- There are several types of corn. The most common types are field corn, sweet corn, and popcorn.
- Corn is actually a grain, not a vegetable, and is part of the grass family.
- Each corn plant produces just one or two ears of corn and is ready for harvest after approximately 120 days of growth.
- Tassels, stalks, husks, ears, leaves, roots, and kernels are all parts of a corn plant.
- A kernel is the yellow seed on an ear of corn. One ear of corn averages 800 kernels in 16 rows.
- A tassel is the tuft at the top of the corn plant that contains the pollen.
- The long silky threads at the top of an ear of corn are the silk.
- One bushel of corn weighs 56 pounds.
- At harvest, a combine separates the kernels from the ear and the rest of the corn plant.
- Each corn kernel contains four major components: starch, protein, oil, and fiber.
- Corn is called maize in most countries, which comes from the Spanish word for corn ‘maiz.’
- Field corn is also known as dent corn, which is higher in starch and lower in sugar than sweet corn.
- An acre of corn will give off 4,000 gallons of water per day in evaporation.
- One bushel of corn produces 2.8 gallons of ethanol. Ethanol is high performance, locally grown, renewable fuel made from corn. Gasoline is not renewable.
- Compared directly to gasoline, ethanol reduces greenhouse gas emission by 40-50%.
- Over half of all the corn grown in the United States is grown in four states: Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska.
- Of the corn grown in Illinois, 53% is exported, 25% is used to make ethanol, 15% is processed, and 7% is used for animal feed.
- Popcorn is the official Illinois snack food.
*From the Illinois Agriculture in the Classroom 2018-19 Calendar for Teachers