What is corn used for besides eating and fuel?

Corn has many uses. It is one of the world's most versatile crops.

Please note that 0.7% of all the corn grown in the U.S. is sweet corn, or "veggie corn." 99.3% is field corn, also called commercial corn.

You can imagine the leaves on a corn plant as solar panels. The leaves convert the sun's energy into the kernels on each ear of corn. That means that energy we cannot consume (solar energy) changes form into corn kernels. Those kernels are used in many ways.

The part of the corn plant that is not harvested also has use. It can remain on the crop land and act like a mulch, protecting the land from soil and water erosion. It also composts, adding nutrients back into the soil.

Consult the 2010 World of Corn at the related link below for a full report on the U.S. corn crop and its uses.

In the U.S., the biggest user of corn is the livestock industry. Beef cattle, dairy cattle, hogs, and poultry all consume the corn kernels and change the form of the energy into protein, which we as humans can then consume.

The next biggest user of corn in the U.S. is the ethanol industry. The corn kernels are separated into their various parts, and the starch and cellulosic parts can be turned into ethanol. The by-product of this process called DDGS can be used as a livestock feed. So making ethanol does not remove the opportunity to use that same corn kernel as livestock feed and therefore human food.

A small percentage of the corn industry is used in this country for industrial purposes, like bio-degradable plastics. Basically, any product that uses petroleum can use corn derivatives instead.

A small percentage of the U.S. corn crop is turned directly into a human food source like corn meal or corn oil.

About 7% of the U.S. corn crop is made into HFCS, or high fructose corn syrup. HFCS is certified as a natural product by the US government. The corn kernel is refined into the sweetener. This is similar to the refining process that turns sugar beets and sugar cane into what we call "table sugar."

A large portion of the U.S. corn crop is exported around the world and used for the same reasons stated above.