Daniel Schafer
Communications
You might think of corn as a distinctly midwestern crop. Drive through Illinois or Iowa and you’ll see field after field of it. But corn is an ancient grain with roots in the western hemisphere. According to the Smithsonian Institute, “Humans first started selectively breeding corn’s wild ancestor teosinte around 9,000 years ago in Mexico.” The story of corn is a fascinating one, especially because it has become a central crop for the United States. In fact, it is grown in every state. In this blog, we’ll explore corn’s role in Washington agriculture.
Sweet corn and field corn
The reason you might see so much corn on a road trip across the United States is that it’s the number one field crop in the country in terms of production. But there are two main types of corn: sweet corn and field corn, and each has its own uses. Sweet corn is eaten fresh, and it’s the type you get at the grocery store in the can or from the freezer section. Meanwhile, field corn is used to produce products like cornmeal. It’s also used for cattle feed and ethanol.
It’s primarily field corn that is grown in the fields of Illinois and Iowa. Meanwhile, Minnesota, Washington, and Wisconsin are the top three states for sweet corn production.
Washington's sweet corn
Grant County leads the way in sweet corn production in Washington, but farms across the state grow it. In fact, in 2022 Washington farmers harvested 69,500 acres of sweet corn on the way to a total production of 14,565,800 CWT and a total production value of $114,173,000, according to USDA.
But it’s not just the production value that makes sweet corn important to Washington farms. That’s because it’s a rotation crop — one that’s used to give soil time to regenerate after growing other crops. In Washington, those crops are often potatoes or wheat.
Much of the sweet corn grown in Washington — about 87% — is processed. That is, it’s canned or frozen. You can learn more about how corn is processed by watching this clip from Washington Grown:
Try Washington sweet corn this season — or enjoy it later!
We said earlier that there are two main types of corn, but there are many specific varieties. One thing they all have in common, though, is that they’re a great source of vitamin C. One of the great things about Washington sweet corn is that, even though its flavor is unbeatable when fresh, it still tastes great (and is good for you) from the can or out of the freezer. So whether you enjoy it fresh (we’re in the tail end of harvest season now) or you store it away in your freezer to enjoy this winter, Washington sweet corn is always a great choice!