You can see this piece of aerial artwork at Gate E-16 in the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. It is one of a number of pieces that became a part of the international Concourse E at the airport when it was built in 1996 to make way for the Centennial Olympic Games.

“Each gate has a unique installation by an artist from the southeastern region of the United States,” according to the airport website. “Peppered through the rest of the concourse are additional artworks and displays. As a result, Concourse E has the Airport Art Program’s largest collection of permanent and site-specific art. We hope that passengers from around the world leave Concourse E delighted, intrigued and with a sense of the complex culture of the American South.”

The flying corn is called “Corncorde” and the artist is Craig Nutt. “From Nutt’s “Flying Vegetable” series, the design was inspired by jetliners. With its wings swept back, leaping into flight the corn is propelling upward to cruising altitude. This humorous work was hand-carved by Nutt from wood and painted to capture the details of this indigenous American crop.

To accompany the flying corn, Nutt created an air traffic control tower. Nothing is more appropriate to guide the “Corncorde” on its journey than a tower composed of a giant carrot and motorized spinning butter bean also made out of carved and painted wood.”

The things you see when you travel …

Entering its second season, the Missouri Corn fall promotion builds on last year’s successful campaign in which weatherproof stop signs were featured in 25 corn mazes across the state. The 2011 maze materials continue the theme with yield signs answering some of the most common questions about field corn. Partnering mazes also received a free Many Uses of Corn poster and Corn in the Classroom education materials for visiting teachers.

“We want to help the next generation explore agriculture,” said Missouri Corn Outreach Coordinator Hilary Holeman. “The goal of Missouri Corn’s educational efforts is to help today’s children better understand the relationship between our nation’s top crop and its impact on our daily lives.”

Taking it one step further, three corn mazes were selected to participate in a pilot program featuring a series of oversized displays highlighting the top uses for Missouri corn: feed, fuel and exports. The interactive exhibits invite visitors to post pictures to the Missouri Corn Facebook page for a chance to win $50 in free fuel.

The three mazes participating in this Missouri Corn pilot program are Fischer Farms Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze, Jefferson City; Liberty Corn Maze, Liberty; and Beggs Family Farm near Sikeston. Be aMAZEd by corn!

Founded in 1951, the club was founded to facilitate a county-wide yield contest and host an awards banquet for the winners. At one point, the club even served as a model for fine similar programs in Maryland alone, but the majority of these organizations have disappeared with state and national organizations hosting most yield contests. The members of the Talbot County Corn Club continue their proud tradition citing the knowledge and ideas shared as reason enough to make the effort.

To help them celebrate, let’s find an answer to their question. If you have knowledge of any corn club that has run continuously since 1955 or before, please submit the name of the club and a contact by October 30, 2011 to Corn Commentary via email, by clicking here. While the Talbot Corn Club certainly has something to celebrate already, finding the oldest corn club in the country helps us all to recognize the proud agricultural traditions that are an important part of our industry’s heritage.

Here, ingenuity and U.S. farming collide to meet demand rooted in an urban problem, cleaning up after Fido.  With the new bags, which programs such as the downtown St. Louis “Scoop the Poop” campaign are using, dog owners can rest assured knowing that they are keeping their city and their planet clean.

Farmers know how important caring for the land is.  So enjoy walking Rex and don’t forget that farmers provide the fuel for innovative ways to improve the way we treat the earth every day.

This development during NASCAR’s annual awards program is extremely meaningful not only because of the size of the fan base and NASCAR’s marketing clout but because there is nothing like real world rubber meeting the road to counter ethanol naysayers.

Despite years of proven performance and use ethanol still takes the occasional cheap shot from critics like Big Oil who offer an alternative product or corn users who want access to cheap corn. Many of the myths and much of the misinformation they foster will get eclipsed by the raw performance that ethanol will bring to NASCAR^®.

Led by Growth Energy, more than 100 different entities – from farmers and state corn grower boards to ethanol producers and biotech companies – are working with NASCAR to introduce a cleaner-burning fuel to America. E15 fuels like Sunoco Green E15, which is unleaded gasoline blended with 15% ethanol, will support jobs in America’s heartland.

In the words of one Corn Grower, “This alliance will shine a light on ethanol’s many benefits and do it on a large national stage. Ethanol has long been overshadowed by misinformation but NASCAR’s endorsement should blow the doors off of the critics.”

The transition partnership with American Ethanol takes NASCAR’s environmental commitment to the next level. American Ethanol, a renewable source of cleaner burning energy from the bounty of America’s farmers, helps create new green jobs and a renewed sense of pride for the American worker, while helping to achieve greater energy security for our country.

Starting with the 2011 season, American Ethanol will be an integral partner in NASCAR green efforts, linking millions of American farmers with the sport of NASCAR.

• By using American Ethanol, NASCAR will demonstrate ethanol’s superior performance not only to the NASCAR audience, but to the broader public as well.
• A 15% blend of ethanol uses 50% more homegrown fuel than the current E10 standard blend in the U.S. NASCAR is leading by example by utilizing Sunoco Green E15 race fuel, showing that American ethanol-blended fuel works.
• NASCAR is going green. And ethanol is the only commercially viable alternative to gasoline. We are honored to partner with NASCAR to show Americans that ethanol is clean, green and homegrown.
• For the first time ever, starting in 2011 in Daytona, the NASCAR Green Flag will be branded with American Ethanol, representing the continued efforts of NASCAR and its commitment to environmental responsibility.
• Also premiering in 2011, every lap of every NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race will be fueled by Sunoco Green E15 -– a fuel that includes 15% renewable American Ethanol, which is produced from corn grown and harvested on family farms across our country.
• NASCAR fans will see the same great racing they have come to expect, but powered with a new, greener fuel.

The Sustaining Innovation campaign echoes a promotional campaign conducted in Washington, D.C. by the Corn Farmers Coalition which is comprised of more than a dozen state corn organizations including Nebraska and the National Corn Growers Association.

 “We feel it is important to share positive messages about corn farming today to better help people understand just how far farmers have come in caring for the environment while producing a growing abundance of corn,” Curt Friesen, a farmer from Henderson who chairs the Nebraska Corn Board’s market development committee, said in a news release.

Some of the positive messages include the fact that American farmers have reduced the energy used to produce a bushel of corn by 37 percent over the past three decades and that farmers are producing more corn per ounce of fertilizer than just 35 years ago.

 Importantly, the messages also highlight the fact that 95 percent of all corn farms in the nation are family owned.

“We’re excited to be part of this campaign because we believe family corn farmers have made significant advancements to grow more corn per acre while requiring fewer inputs per bushel to do so,” said Chris Flaming, who is featured in one of the ads with his wife, Korene, and children. The Flamings farm near Elsie, Nebraska.

“People need to understand that it’s real families making their livelihood raising corn and that we’re doing the right things because we want our children to have an opportunity to farm, too,” Chris Flaming said

You can read more information on this remarkable story here.

The “Campaign to ReDe$ign the US Dollar” appears to be an independent effort to collect cool designs for money as well as more than 1 million signatures to bring the efforts attention to the White House and perhaps give us a  new cool or trendy look to our moolah, cabbage, scratch, greenbacks, dough…you know… macaroni.

Promoters say the American Dollar has not truly been redesigned since about the 1930s. “With ‘the economy bottoming out,’ we believe it’s time to go back to the drawing board and ‘start from scratch. Why? A piece of currency is ‘the ultimate symbol.’ At its best, a banknote distills a country’s vision, values and the heritage that make it unique. ‘A more transparent, rational financial system deserves money that looks the part. With our financial system in crisis, the time is right to redesign the currency of the United States.”

 Interesting idea, but I have to admit to being a little uncomfortable with corn being on a $2 bill after US corn prices sold for that lowly amount per bushel almost without exception for two decades. Whoah, bad flashback! 

 You can take a peek here if you are interested in submitting your own design.

In short, it (HFCS) seems to be no worse—but also no better—than sucrose, or table sugar. “The debate about HFCS and sucrose [table sugar] is taking the focus off the more important question,” says Kimber Stanhope, Ph.D., R.D., a researcher at the University of California, Davis, who has studied the sweetener extensively. “What we should be asking is ‘What are the effects of all sugars (HFCS and sucrose) in the diet?’”

It is interesting to note that High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is number two on the list of the 13 biggest nutrition and food myths put together by Joyce Hendley, longtime contributing editor at the magazine.

Myth 2: High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is worse for you than sugar.
The Truth: The idea that high-fructose corn syrup is any more harmful to your health than sugar is “one of those urban myths that sounds right but is basically wrong,” according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a health advocacy group.

The composition of high-fructose corn syrup is almost identical to table sugar or sucrose (55 percent fructose, 45 percent glucose and 50:50, respectively). Calorie-wise, HFCS is a dead ringer for sucrose. Studies show that HFCS and sucrose have very similar effects on blood levels of insulin, glucose, triglycerides and satiety hormones. In short, it seems to be no worse—but also no better—than sucrose, or table sugar.

This controversy, say researchers, is distracting us from the more important issue: we’re eating too much of all sorts of sugars, from HFCS and sucrose to honey and molasses. The American Heart Association recently recommended that women consume no more than 100 calories a day in added sugars [6 teaspoons]; men, 150 calories [9 teaspoons].

The Yahoo-based internet community called Shine takes the Healthy Living list and boils it down to their “six biggest lies” about food and HFCS remains near the top.

The silliness of the HFCS issue is providing some good fodder for hawkers of humor such as Jim Borgman and Jerry Scott, the co-creators of the Zits comic strip. You have to marvel at their ability to send a strong message with a little over 40 words, but in this case one will do – “moderation.”

 Then the public ire moved to the soaring cost of petroleum as the true culprit. And that was partially right too. Many experts ultimately said a combination of  factors caused the jump in food prices. (Corn prices were near the bottom of the list). Problem was the explanation was months late and the media attention was wimpy at best. Corn and ethanol had been tarred and feathered and the damage done.

The cheap corn mafia led by the Grocery Manufacturers Association eventually confessed, albeit in a whisper, ethanol was one of seven factors having a role in higher food prices. Even the World Bank, the culprit that leaked an erroneous report triggering food vs. fuel, later said “the effect of biofuels on food prices has not been as large as originally thought, but that the use of commodities by financial investors (the so-called “financialization of commodities”) may have been partly responsible for the 2007/08 spike.” 

Once again we see corn prices on the rise, topping $5 a bushel last week, and talk about food shortages and skyrocketing grocery bills popping up.  This time oil prices are relatively high but stable so what the heck is going on?

Once again probably more than meets the eye but this we do know; the rally has been fueled by USDA forecasts of smaller U.S. corn yields than expected and reports of drought losses in Russia’s wheat crop.

Hafez Ghanem, Assistant Director-General for Economic and Social Development with the United Nation’s Food & Agriculture Organization offers some important perspective: “The market fundamentals are sound and very different from 2007-2008. Despite the shortfall in Russia’s wheat production, this year’s cereal harvest was the third highest on record and stocks are high.  Under these conditions we don’t believe that we are headed for a new food crisis, but we will continue monitoring the situation closely.”

Other key points that should help keep irrational fear at bay:

Even if the U.S. corn crop is reduced further we will still be harvesting the 8^th record corn crop in the last 8 years. We will have a carryover of ending stocks of 1.1 billion bushels.

World wheat stockpiles are expected to be 174.8 million metric tons in the 2010-11 season, comprised of local marketing years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s 40 percent more than in 2007-08.”

Last month USDA reported food price increases in 2010 would be minimal. The Consumer Price Index for all food increased 1.8% in 2009 and is forecast to increase 0.5 to 1.5% in 2010.

Future prospects for corn supply and ethanol look good. Ethanol production tripled from 2002-2009. During the same time period, corn production met increased demand from ethanol and produced an additional 21% more corn for other needs.

With that observation aside…on to the latest study on Hypoxia and this one happens to be serious in nature, better than many and related to an issue we must understand better. Hypoxic Zones – a condition in which oxygen levels drop so low that fish and other animals are stressed or killed – are often better known in the environmental community and mass media by the stage name of “Dead Zones” for its shock value.

What makes the latest look at Hypoxia interesting is the diverse list of folks involved in the study and several very public observations that would seems to show the wisdom of what many experts have said for years; hypoxia is real, a growing risk, and complex to the point of still largely evading current science.

The study compiled by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had significant inputs from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. It shows a growing body of thought that climate change is a big factor in these zones, urban contributions are significant and most of the zones are in places with little intensive farming or fertilizer use.

The study provides a comprehensive list of the more than 300 U.S. coastal water bodies affected by hypoxia. This alone is interesting. Much of what the public has heard about hypoxia in the past is related to the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico and the finger pointers saying agriculture, and specifically growing corn production and fertilizer use, is the culprit. This continues despite static acreage, better soil and water management, and reduced fertilizer use.

The new report at least points out nutrient delivery to coastal waters throughout the nation come from urban and suburban landscapes (golf courses & your lawn), city water treatment sewage discharges and even air pollution. The non-Ag sources get a serious look in this study – and they should – given most of the 300 affected waterways have little corn production or intensive use of commercial fertilizers in agriculture.

“This report makes it clear that there are many causes of hypoxia and that the causes vary based on location of the affected areas. Some are agriculture-related, and many are not. We support further research into all the causes of hypoxia because only then can we seriously develop and implement solutions that are workable and sustainable,” said Darrin Ihnen, National Corn Growers Association president of South Dakota.

One big red flag is the largest and fastest growing zones are in the Pacific Northwest which they are attributing to an emerging link to changing climate. Despite this revelation and better balance than many hypoxia papers, this one still singles our corn and growing demand for ethanol as a key culprit.

The study mentions increased corn acreage from 2006 to 2007 but does not mention the acreage drop from 2007 to 2008, and that the acreage planted in 2010 is more than 5 million acres fewer than in 2007.

The hit on corn overshadows the more interesting findings of the geographic diversity of these zones and the emerging link to climate change. These zones have increased 30-fold since 1960 despite advances in agricultural technology and have been located in many areas of the world where no fertilizer is used. Hopefully, this study will broaden the debate and open some minds on the hypoxia issue.