56. Consider Corn Challenge Winners: Promoting Innovative New Uses for Our Crop

Our ability to produce American corn is outgrowing demand for the crop.   And if growers are going to get some relief from sagging corn prices, our nation’s innovators are going to have to find new uses for the commodity. Fortunately, corn is a versatile crop that can be processed into all manner of plastics, fibers and distillations. And with this year’s Consider Corn Challenge, the NCGA shined a spotlight on some of these innovations, while also incentivizing new research. So in this episode, we meet Curtis Firestone, the co-founder and CEO of Aerterra, an air filter manufacturer that sources its household and commercial products from the corn that we grow in our fields. The filters are eco-friendly, and can be used interchangeably with the petroleum-based versions that are standard in homes and businesses. We’ll be joined as well by Chad Epler, a farmer from southeast Kansas who serves as the chair of the NCGA action team dedicated research and new uses for corn. Together, we’ll discuss how the Consider Corn challenge is a game changer for innovators, how it’s moving the needle on corn demand, and what other future uses we’re pioneering.