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New Study Reveals Powerful Economic Impact of Corn Refining Industry

A new study reveals the immense economic impact of the corn refining industry, featuring a $47 billion economic output in 2020, working to strengthen rural America while producing a wide variety of value-added products and materials. The report details the industry’s contributions to the U.S. economy in terms of sales, jobs, salaries, purchases, and taxes.

The economic power of the corn wet-milling industry results in:

  • $3.328 billion in state and federal taxes
  • 167,786 total jobs
  • $10.013 billion in total wages
  • $47 billion in total economic output

Corn is nature’s renewable building block and can be found in most products that comprise our everyday lives—shampoo, wallpaper, laundry detergent, yogurt, pharmaceuticals, packaging, pasta, and more. Annually, 10-15% of American corn farmers’ crops are refined in corn wet-milling facilities, where our nation’s cornerstone crop is converted into a valuable resource utilized all day, every day. For years, corn-related innovations in chemistry and technology have made food taste better, cosmetics last longer, pharmaceuticals easier to swallow and plastics environmentally friendly. Now, corn products are used in 3-D printing inks and studied by nanotechnology scientists as a method for delivering cancer treatments. From America’s corn fields to corn refining plants, new technology allows us to preserve resources for future generations.

“This report underscores the essential role America’s corn refiners play in our nation’s agricultural and economic value chain,” said John Bode, President & CEO of the Corn Refiners Association. “While our members represent some of the biggest names in value-added agriculture, they remain deeply rooted in rural America, where they serve as pillars of economic growth. They work to foster technological innovation, expand commercial opportunities, advance free trade, build the bioeconomy, and feed a hungry world.”

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In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Dr. Kwangwook Kim, Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, discusses the use of non-nutritive sweeteners in nursery pig diets. He explains how sucralose and neotame influence feed intake, gut health, metabolism, and the frequency of diarrhea compared to antibiotics. The conversation highlights mechanisms beyond palatability, including hormone signaling and nutrient transport. Listen now on all major platforms!

“Receptors responsible for sweet taste are present not only in the mouth but also along the intestinal tract.”

Meet the guest: Dr. Kwangwook Kim / kwangwook-kim is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University, specializing in swine nutrition and feed additives under disease challenge models. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Animal Sciences from the University of California, Davis, where he focused on intestinal health and metabolic responses in pigs. His research evaluates alternatives to antibiotics, targeting gut health and performance in nursery pigs.