Minnesota Is a Top Corn Producer. But How Much of It Is Eaten by Humans?
13th November 2022
Humans eat sweet corn. And only a sliver of Minnesota’s harvest lands for sale on the back of a Ford Econoline or buttered at a summer barbecue. Specifically, just over 1% of the 8 million acres harvested for field corn in 2021 is dedicated to the cash crop’s sweeter cousin.
A lion’s share of what’s grown in the state — roughly two-thirds of those 8 million acres — is for grain that is either devoured by livestock or transported to ethanol facilities.
The market for ethanol is driven by politics, requirements for blending it into gasoline in the name of the ‘climate crisis’. And, of course, once there is profit in making ethanol, there arises a powerful lobbying effort to keep the gravy train on track.