Program Information

Professor Brad discusses the many uses of corn, the tasty and environmentally-friendly vegetable. There are three types of corn raised in Virginia: sweet corn (which is people food and delicious to eat), field corn (which is raised for livestock feed as well as processing), and corn grown for silage.

ABCs of Agriculture informs about Virginia's farming community and how it affects you. ABCs of Agriculture are produced by the Virginia Foundation for Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC) - an educational program which encourages and enhances agricultural literacy in Grades K-5 and 6-8.

Transcript

Hello, and welcome to the ABC’s of Agriculture! We’re here today to talk about the letter C, for corn.

There are three types of corn raised in Virginia and elsewhere in the U.S. – sweet corn, for people to eat, field corn for livestock and processing, and corn that’s raised for silage.

Driving across the state, you’ll see corn fields in virtually every county. The great majority will be field corn or silage. That’s where the entire plant is chopped up and stored for dairy cows or beef cows to eat in months to come.

In the year 2000, Virginia was the 13th largest state in producing silage corn – 23rd in the nation for raising sweet corn and 20th in the U.S. for corn for grain. While Virginia farmers raise a lot of corn, more than half the corn in the nation is grown in the Midwest, in the so-called “Corn Belt.”

Corn is not just raised for food. It is used to make ethanol, an additive to gasoline that helps reduce auto pollution. Cornstarch can be found in adhesives, antibiotics, batteries, chewing gum, crayons, detergents and plywood. It’s even found in disposable diapers!

Corn… a tasty and environmentally friendly vegetable! For the ABC’s of Agriculture, I’m Professor Brad! See you next time! Mmm…

Virginia Standards