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This Holiday Season, Give Thanks for Corn
Michigan Ag Connection - 11/17/2009

As Thanksgiving approaches, the Corn Marketing Program of Michigan (CMPM) wants to take this opportunity to educate consumers about one of America's first and most bountiful crops - corn. Corn has long been an important commodity to American consumers and it was one of the first crops settlers learned to grow in their fields. Native Americans helped teach many of the new settlers how to plant, raise and harvest corn which helped them survive in the new land.

Today, corn is not only a tabletop favorite and staple, but also an integral part of many other products. Now, corn can not only be served on your Thanksgiving plate, but can also be a primary component of that plate.

"Polylactic acid, or PLA, is a corn-derived polymer that can be used to create biodegradable plastics. More than 100 billion pounds of plastics are produced in the United States every year, and these plastics have traditionally relied on petroleum-based feedstocks. PLA offers a 100 percent renewable alternative to petroleum-based plastic," said Clark Gerstacker, CMPM president and member of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Corn Board. "In the past few years, several companies have announced their switch to corn-based plastic products. Some of these products include plates, cutlery, clamshell containers, bags, cups, film and plastic wrapping."

Even when the holiday season is over, corn still plays an integral role in everyday life. "Through the CMPM, Michigan corn farmers invest in research that focuses on new uses and expands new markets for corn. This research has led to the development of corn-based plastics, fabrics and packing materials," explained Gerstacker, who is also a corn farmer from Midland. "And of course you can always choose ethanol-blended fuels when filling up at the gas station or replace your propane-fueled furnace with a cleaner-burning, corn heating unit."

In addition to all the new corn-based products, it is essential to remember how important corn is in traditional holiday meals. "Thanksgiving and the holiday season are times for family get-togethers, which always include great food. Many of the products on consumer's dinner tables have ingredients made from corn. For example, an important ingredient in fresh bread and rolls is dextrose, a corn sugar, which helps preserve bread and keeps it from becoming stale. Corn syrup is also used in salad dressings to make the product smoother and easier to pour, and many favorite fruit and vegetable side dishes contain corn sweeteners and other corn products," said Jody Pollok-Newsom, CMPM executive director.

"While many food products contain corn or ingredients derived from corn, many other products would not be in existence without corn," explained Pollok-Newsom.

"Many beef, pork, and poultry products are value-added forms of corn. The livestock industry is the largest market for Michigan-grown corn. With an increase in ethanol production in the state, livestock farmers now also have another feed option, dried distillers grains (DDG). DDGs are a valuable co-product from the ethanol process that helps displace some of the corn now used for ethanol production that has been fed to livestock in the past," said Pollok-Newsom.

"A bushel of corn is about 56 pounds. That bushel of corn can be turned into nearly three gallons of ethanol and 17 pounds of the high protein livestock feed DDG. About one third of the corn that goes into the ethanol process comes back to the market as DDG," reported Pollok-Newsom. According to ProExporter, Michigan produced about 490,000 metric tons of DDG in 2008-2009. This amount of DDGs displaced about 14 million bushels of corn. With more available corn, technology and new markets, the use of corn-based products will continue to grow and expand.

For a list of more than 600 products derived from corn, visit the NCGA's website www.ncga.com and click on the CORNer store link at the bottom of the page.

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