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Nibble on the Nation's Top Crop
• by Francis Raven
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As the saying goes, corn is supposed to be knee high by the Fourth of July, but in truth, this is an antiquated adage originating from a time before modern agriculture. Today, most years the corn rises to meet an adult’s brow by the nation’s birthday, and in Missouri, the sweet corn season lasts from June all the way through August.
But the nature of growing corn has been changing since people started farming it. Scientists believe people living in central Mexico developed corn at least 7,000 years ago. Notice that these scientists do not say that these early Americans found corn but instead say that the American Indians developed it. This is because the corn that we see today was intentionally bred to have large, sweet kernels that are relatively close together. About 1,000 years ago, as American Indians migrated north, they brought corn with them, which was fortunate for the European settlers who were given corn for their first Thanksgiving, enabling them to survive their first harsh year in America.
In the present day, corn is our nation’s top crop. Three states (Iowa, Illinois and Nebraska) account for about a third of U.S. corn production. Missouri produces 300 million bushels of corn annually and has about 15,000 corn farmers. According to the National Corn Growers Association, 9 billion bushels of corn were produced by U.S. growers in 2002, making the United States both the largest producer of corn (interestingly, China is the second-largest producer) and also the largest exporter of corn (Argentina comes in second).
However, most corn grown in the United States is not eaten directly by people but is instead fed to livestock. As Fred Stemme, the communications and marketing director of the Missouri Corn Growers Association, said, “Corn like we eat is really designed to meet our palate, whereas field corn meets the needs of livestock.” The corn that we eat off the cob is a variety called sweet corn, and the corn fed to livestock is called field (or dent) corn. Stemme quantified this by saying that about 60 percent of corn grown is fed to livestock, 20 percent is exported and 20 percent has industrial uses such as in corn syrup, lotion, fireworks, detergents, alcohol, toothpaste, aspirin and ethanol. He noted that there are 4,200 products in the average grocery that use corn, which is why the association’s motto is “Corn is making a difference in the products you love.”
Like choosing any vegetable, selecting a good ear of corn is a contentious issue. Linda Stuckmeyer, at Stuckmeyers Farm Market and Greenhouse near Fenton, said that a good way of picking corn is according to its size. “A lot of people like the tender young corn on the smaller cobs because it’s so sweet and fresh. But if you’re going to can it and need a lot, you might go for a bigger ear. So, I would say to choose the ear according to the size of the kernel you like.” She further noted that “some people will pull the tops back, but as a seller, we don’t like that because if they don’t pick that ear it will dry out and not be good anymore.”
Tom Riddle, who works in the produce department of Wild Oats, offered a slightly different view. He said, “You don’t want it to look dried out. You want your kernels to be whole. You don’t want them to look deflated like a deflated tire.”
In the past, perhaps when the corn was supposed to be knee high on the Fourth of July, it was only possible to get really good sweet corn the day it was picked. You would have to get to the farmers’ market the morning the farmer picked it and eat it that night. This is because the sugar in the kernels, which makes the corn sweet, would rapidly convert to starch, making the corn taste mealy and not so sweet. And while it is still true that sweet corn is one of the few produce items that needs to be eaten fresh, the rising popularity of a variety of sweet corn called Super Sweet has made freshness less of a factor. The sugar-enhanced Super Sweet corn has a higher sugar content than regular sweet corn, and the conversion of sugar to starch is thus slowed.
Of course, the sugar of the Super Sweet variety does eventually convert to starch. The problem is that for the consumer, there is no great way to tell between regular sweet corn and the Super Sweet variety. It is probably safest just to eat that corn right up as soon as you get it. While you’re waiting for your fresh sweet corn’s water to boil, visit the Corn Cam, which is a Web cam the trade newspaper Iowa Farmer Today has trained on the cornfields of Iowa farmers Jim and Sharon Greif (online at www.iowafarmer.com/corncam/corn.html).
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