Corn Uses
It might seem like field corn is primarily used as livestock feed. In reality, there’s much more to this versatile little plant!
Field corn is the main ingredient in ethanol, a cleaner-burning fuel. It’s also a key export commodity, invaluable to markets across the globe. Additionally, it’s used in thousands of products, from cereal and tires to crayons and biodegradable plastic.
Each year, Minnesota Corn works to build export markets and increase usage of corn-derived fuels, foods and consumer products. Read on to learn how the state’s corn farmers are supporting new markets and uses for their crop.
Ethanol
To promote opportunities for Minnesota’s corn farmers, Minnesota Corn invests in efforts to promote and increase usage of ethanol-blended fuels.
Exports
As part of its mission to increase profitability for Minnesota’s corn farmers, Minnesota Corn invests in multiple organizations that work to maintain and develop export markets.
New Uses
To create new markets for field corn and increase the sustainability of consumer products, Minnesota Corn invests in efforts to develop corn-based goods.
Ethanol
Ethanol, which in the U.S. is primarily derived from field corn, is a cleaner-burning fuel that reduces greenhouse gas emissions by nearly half compared to gasoline. It also contains higher levels of engine-boosting octane and costs less. Fuel containing 15% ethanol, which is also known as E15, or Unleaded 88, typically costs 5 cents to 20 cents less per gallon on average, for example.
Each bushel of corn produces 2.9 gallons of ethanol. The process of creating a gallon of ethanol also creates over 15 pounds of dried distillers grains, or DDGS, which are typically used as a protein-rich animal feed.
[More: Get the latest ethanol news.]
Almost all gasoline sold in the U.S. contains 10% ethanol. All vehicles model year 2001 and newer are approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to use Unleaded 88.
Given the many benefits of Unleaded 88, the number of retailers carrying the fuel in Minnesota has skyrocketed in recent years. Minnesota has also seen sales of Unleaded 88 rise to record levels in recent years. In fact, availability has increased markedly over the years, starting in 2013 with just a couple dozen stations to 2024 with nearly 500 stations offering the fuel.
Some retailers sell fuel with even higher ethanol blends, such as E85, but those fuels can only be used in flex fuel vehicles.
Investments
Since 2008, Minnesota Corn has invested over $35 million to promote and increase usage of ethanol-blended fuels. Efforts supported by Minnesota Corn have included:
- partnering with county corn grower associations and the Minnesota Biofuels Association on fuel-promotion events at local stations;
- collaborating with MEG Corp to address myths about ethanol among young auto technicians and create an ethanol lesson plan for Minnesota educators;
- contributing $1.1 million to a state biofuel infrastructure grant program in 2015 and $1 million to another state grant program in 2021. Such programs help fueling stations upgrade to equipment compatible with Unleaded 88 and higher ethanol blends;
- creating the Better Fuel Initiative to raise awareness about the benefits of Unleaded 88 among consumers statewide;
- supporting research by ClearFlame Engine Technologies to develop technology that will allow ethanol to replace conventional diesel as the fuel source for diesel engines;
- investing in University of Minnesota research aimed at creating an ethanol-powered electric vehicle range extender; and
- supporting research by Plasma Blue into the viability of converting corn oil into biodiesel using ethanol.
To learn more about the benefits of ethanol-blended fuels, visit betterfuel.org.
Exports
Exports of U.S. corn help support countries across the world and create vibrant rural communities.
Exports of corn, ethanol & coproducts added $4.73 billion in value to the Minnesota economy in 2022, according to a ComplEat Analytics study commissioned by the U.S. Grains Council and the National Corn Growers Association.
According to the analysis, exports of Minnesota corn were worth $1.6 billion, supported over 11,500 jobs and $3.1 billion in economic output for the state. Minnesota’s ethanol and ethanol coproduct exports were worth over $533 million, supported over 5,200 jobs and $1.6 billion in economic output.
Value of Exports
Top Markets for Minnesota in 2024
Corn – Mexico, Canada, Taiwan
DDGS – Canada, Mexico, South Korea
Ethanol – Canada
Minnesota Corn invests in multiple organizations that work to maintain and develop export markets, including:
- the U.S. Grains Council, a national grain-export organization dedicated to developing markets abroad;
- the U.S. Meat Export Federation, which promotes U.S.-grown beef and pork around the world. Minnesota Corn’s investment helps USMEF promote American products in Japan and South Korea;
- the USA Poultry & Egg Export Council, which helps promote U.S. poultry and eggs globally;
- the Northern Crops Institute, a Fargo, North Dakota, based international meeting and learning center. In recent years, Minnesota Corn has worked with NCI on trade missions and studies that compare U.S. corn to international varieties.
New Uses
Without the hard work of dedicated scientists, it’s quite possible that many corn-based products wouldn’t have been developed.
To facilitate continued innovation, Minnesota Corn is proud to invest in a variety of new-use projects, both at university-level research centers and through farmer-led investments.
Some examples of new uses research include:
- Research at AURI (Luca Zullo) to explore the feasibility of developing ethanol as a carrier for greenhydrogen and assess the market opportunity of relevant emerging technologies
- Exploration to identify the opportunity to develop DDGS into a human food ingredients through Jason Robinson’s AURI research
- An effort by Låkril Technologies to mass produce a corn-derived acrylic acid. A corn-based acrylic acid could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by at least 35% and increase corn demand by tens of millions of bushels annually
