Visit a Kentucky Corn Farm and Research Center | Kentucky Farms Feed Me

Kylie visits with Kentucky farmer Joseph Sisk to learn how he grows corn, then she visits with Dr. Chad Lee, a corn expert at the University of Kentucky, to learn what corn needs to grow. This virtual field trip series was developed by the Kentucky Corn Growers Association. 

Main Ideas: 

• Corn is planted in April with equipment that plants the corn in rows, spacing the plants evenly and consistently. This allows for easier harvesting by machines that can hold lots of grain. 
• Harvested corn is stored to dry until time to take it to buyers, usually in late December. 
• Several types of corn exist and each has a different purpose: Yellow field corn is used to feed animals, making cooking oil, and for making ethanol, which can be used as fuel in some automobiles. White field corn is used as an ingredient for making several human foods, and sweet corn is the kind we buy to cook and eat straight from the cob and to make popcorn. 
• Corn plants grow to be approximately 7 feet tall before the corn is ready for harvest. The amount grown is measured in bushels. 
• After the corn is harvested, then wheat can be planted in that same field. Once the wheat is harvested, then soybeans are planted again in the same plot of ground.   This process of growing crops that contribute and consume different nutrients one after another is called crop rotation. It is a process that benefits the soil in many ways.