Soybeans & Corn: Terrific Top Crops
In your last AgMag, you learned that soybeans and corn are two of our state’s most important crops. But did you know that you use soybeans and corn yourself in dozens of ways every day? Zoom in for a closer look at these amazing plants.
Soybeans: Miracle Crop
Chinese people have grown and appreciated soybeans for 5,000 years. They called soybeans “Yellow Jewel” and “Great Treasure.” We call soybeans “the miracle crop” because they have hundreds of uses. Each of us eats 35 to 40 pounds of soy products every year. People use tons of soy in nonfood products, too. Soybeans are one of the world’s most efficient and inexpensive sources of protein for both humans and animals.
How many ways have you used soybeans today?
Corn: America’s Gold
Early settlers coming to America often hoped to find gold. But they found an even greater treasure — one that could feed the world — when Native Americans shared corn, the golden grain. America’s native peoples have grown corn for centuries. Corn was such an important crop that many of their villages and cities built up around it. Millions of people around the world still depend on corn as a main food for themselves and their animals.
Corn is more than food. Those golden kernels have more than 3,000 uses!
