Corn is in the center of many farm ecosystems. Corn uses the nitrogen producedby soybeans and other legume crops. Corn alsoabsorbs water and other nutrients in the soilthrough its roots. Corn is eaten by the animals onthe farm, and humans eat both the animals and the corn.
In addition to knowing how their corn crop interacts withthe other things in the farm ecosystem, farmers need to know how corn grows.Like all other plants, corn produces its own food from the air, water andsunlight through the process of photosynthesis. Corn plants usethe food they photosynthesize to grow and produce corn.
There are many different typesof corn. Various breeds of corn have different genes that controlcharacteristics such as the height of the corn, how sweet the corn is,and what color it is. Farmers choose corn that has genes that will producethe kind of corn with the characteristics they want, like feed corn forcattle, popcorn, or sweet corn. They also choose corn that have genes thatwill do the best in the soil and weather conditions on their farm.
 | Whatgenes would you choose to grow a type of corn where you live? |
Photo by Emily Sprowls
