Farming equipment often requires a large-scale upfront investment acquiring expensive equipment and hiring workers If a family does not want to buy machinery that could cost millions of dollars it can rent the equipment or hire outside companies to do some of the work such as preparing fields or harvesting crops This strategy makes the risk of starting a new farm relatively low However if farmers do want to purchase their own equipment they can benefit from economy of scale This means that the more land a farmer has the less expensive it is to farm For instance the same combine can harvest 1,000 acres 405 ha or 2,000 acres 810 ha The cost to farm each acre goes down the more land the farmer owns 8
Family farming works well for other reasons For example corn farming requires people to be knowledgeable about the local soil nutrients pests and weather Family farmers have this knowledge because they live where they work They are flexible and they can adapt quickly to changing conditions in production weather or crop prices Plus farming is seasonal work and families can take on extra jobs during the off-season more easily than a corporation can shift its workforce In addition because family farms are often passed down from generation to generation the farmers have a big investment in making their business successful To family farmers farming is a way of life BEYOND FAMILY FARMS Growing corn does more than provide a way of life for farmers It also affects their communities the country and the world Because family farmers are often tied to single locations they tend to develop deep roots within communities Sharon Perry an Illinois corn farmer enjoys getting involved with other women in her community She attends conferences with female farmers and also with the Chicago Farmers association Farmer Shirley Smith appreciates the way farmers look out for each other Once when she was renting her farm the renters offered to pay more rent after they had a good crop The reason they gave was that it was only fair The United States is the world’s largest corn grower and exporter It is responsible for approximately 40 percent of the world corn trade 5 In 2015 US farmers devoted enough land 9
to growing corn more than 90 million acres 36 million ha to cover all of Germany 6 These corn crops were worth almost 50 billion more than any other crop grown in the United States including soybeans wheat sorghum barley and oats 7 Because of the high demand for ethanol a fuel made from corn corn prices have risen Farmers have taken advantage of the increase to devote more land to growing corn And even though the number of grain farms has fallen the size of the farms themselves has gone up In addition greater technology has increased production and crop yields But the corn industry extends far beyond growing and selling It encompasses many different businesses and products It involves scientists who develop new seeds It contains distilleries that make ethanol It includes manufacturers that make cereal tortilla chips graham crackers and a Types of Corn Dent corn or field corn is the most common type of corn grown in the United States Called dent corn because of a characteristic dent in the kernels this corn can be grown easily and processed into most of the products that form the corn industry such as ethanol cattle feed and corn syrup Other types of corn grown in the United States include flour corn a soft-kerneled corn that can easily be ground into flour 10 flint corn a hard-kerneled corn that comes in many colors popcorn a type of flint corn that explosively turns inside out when heated green corn an immature sweet corn baby corn a type of corn that is picked before the ears can be pollinated
myriad of other corn products It comprises retailers such as grocery stores in which three out of four food items contain corn 8 And it involves the consumers who often purchase corn products without knowing they contain corn US Crops by Area Farmed As shown in this circle graph more US land is devoted to harvesting corn than any other crop 2 6 Corn Soybeans Hay Wheat Other Sorghum Cotton Barley 5 7 2 7 1 28 3 15 3 17 7 11 26 7
