Over 65,000 Jobs Impacted by Missouri Corn

TRENTON, MO — Aimee Gutshall of the Missouri Corn Growers Association focused on the impact of corn and ethanol during a presentation given to Trenton Rotary Club recently. She noted that 99% of the corn grown in the U.S. is field grown while 1 percent is sweet corn. The average yield of a corn field is between 130 to 140 bushels an acre, although last year’s yields were down due to the drought. Miss Gutshall said that 65,697 jobs are either directly or indirectly affected in Missouri by corn while another 1,575 jobs are affected in some way by ethanol. The impact of taxes include $35 million for ethanol and $313 million for corn. She said that a bushel of corn weighs 56 pounds and results in three gallons of ethanol as well as 18 pounds of distillers grains. She went on to say that the ethanol industry no longer receives subsidies for its production as the federal funding was cut in 2011. She noted that ethanol’s benefits include reducing dependence on foreign oil as well as less pollution.