With National Agriculture Week underway, today marks National Agriculture Day. No matter which day of the week it is, stories about the future of corn are common. Being from a Chicago suburb, listening to news about how there is not enough corn seems plausible. However, as I drive down to school at the University of Illinois, the highway is lined with corn for most of the trip. This makes it hard to believe that we can be running out of corn.
For both 2008 and 2009, corn carry-out numbers were around 1.7 million bushels. Not having an agricultural background, I was unaware how crop marketing worked. The carry-out number represents how much corn is left after the crop’s sale and will be added to next year’s crops. It is like playing a game but starting out with 1.7 million points. So, as corn production reaches record numbers, there’s still more corn to utilize. The USDA predicted 2012’s carry-out number to reach 865 million bushels. Although this may be a slight dip from previous years, by no means are we running out of corn.
Lately, it’s been nearly impossible to read about corn without ethanol entering the picture. Many who believe that the future of corn is in jeopardy attribute some of the blame to corn ethanol. However, in 2008, with the second largest crop in history, ethanol only amounted to 30% of the demand for corn. Also, corn used for ethanol still remains in use for the feed market, amounting to some transfer of the percentage of corn used. There is even considerable questioning of whether corn will remain the crop of choice in the ethanol market. As new technologies and innovations develop, biogas derived from prairie switch grass is expected to become the new face of ethanol production, further freeing up corn for market.
Have no fear, corn is here for good. As summer quickly approaches, we can all look forward to some delicious corn on the cob at our barbeques.
Sources: National Corn Growers Association, Michigan Corn, Reuters “U.S. crop boom not enough to rebuild thin supplies”
Ashley Lavela
U of I Student
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