In 2011, US corn farmers grew 12.4 billion bushels of field corn, which is used for making ethanol and feeding livestock, and 166.3 million bushel equivalents of sweet corn for human consumption. This means that less than 1 percent of the corn grown in the US is for people to eat. To achieve this level of production, farmers planted 91.9 million acres (371,906 km2) of field corn and 656,600 acres (2,657 km2) of sweet corn.
More about corn:
- A bushel is about 56 pounds (25.5 kg), which is comparable to a large bag of dog kibble. An acre (4,046 km2) is about the size of a football field.
- The US produces about 20% of the world's exported corn.
- About 40% of US field corn production is used to make ethanol. The byproducts of this corn — one-third of the original amount — is then reclaimed and used as animal feed.