Overview

According to USDA reports, commercial sweet corn production in 2007 surpassed $860 million in value, with over 631,000 acres under production. Of all processed (e.g., canned, frozen) vegetables, processed sweet corn accounted for the second largest and second most valuable crop in 2007. Only processed tomatoes exceeded processed sweet corn in terms of economic importance.

New genetic lines of sweet corn have improved consistency, taste and shelf life. Because of these genetic improvements, sweet corn consumption continued to increase, peaking at 29 pounds per person. By 2007, however, per person consumption of sweet corn averaged 26 pounds per year. Of that amount, Americans ate 9.1 pounds of fresh sweet corn per person. As it steadily increases, fresh sweet corn consumption approaches the level of frozen corn consumption (10.0 pounds per person); it already exceeds the consumption of canned corn (6.9 pounds per person).  July 2008 . . .  Sweet Corn

Marketing

• Consumer Acceptance of Agricultural Biotechnology: A Market Experiment with Conventional and Biotech Sweet Corn, University of California Agricultural Issues Center, 2005 - An analysis of a consumer survey conducted by Pennsylvania State University. 
• Demand, Supply and Trade: National and Northwest Raspberries, Blueberries, Strawberries, Sweet Corn, and Snap Beans, University of California and Oregon State University, 2004 -  Reviews principal trends during the past two decades in the national and Pacific Northwest markets for selected berries and vegetables. The authors looked at the sources and types of apparent shifts in U.S. supply and demand for these products, and the apparent effects of import competition on domestic production and prices.
• Direct Ag Market Moves in New Directions, University of Wisconsin. 
• Market Development Strategies for Florida Fresh Sweet Corn: Findings from a Consumer Survey, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service, 2003. 
• Processed Sweet Corn Situation and Outlook for Selected Countries, FAS, USDA, 2004 - Sweet corn demand and production report.
• Sweet Corn Marketing in New York – How Sweet is it?, Cornell University Economic Department.
• U.S. Fruit and Vegetable Outlook, National Food and Agriculture Policy Project (NFAPP), Arizona State University, 2007 - Production, consumption and price outlooks through 2016.
• U.S. Sweet Corn Statistics, ERS, USDA, 2004 - United States and state data on acreage, yield, production and value. Additional statistics such as per capita use, price indexes, shipments, arrivals, U.S. exports and imports by country, world production, world harvested acreage, world trade and selected cost of production budgets are included.

Processing/Manufacturing 

• Grading Guide: Sweet Corn, Illustrated Guides to Grading Vegetables, Purdue University, 2006. 
• Processing Sweet Corn, Vegetables and Melons Outlook, ERS, USDA, 2007.
• Sweet Corn: Recommendations for Maintaining Postharvest Quality, University of California, Davis, 2006.
• United States Standards for Grades of Sweet Corn, AMS, USDA, 1992.  

• Corn, Integrated Pest Management guidelines, University of California, Davis.
• Fresh-market Sweet Corn, Vegetables and Melons Outlook, ERS, USDA, 2005.
• Managing Insects in Commercially Grown Sweet Corn, Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service, 2001.
• Organic Sweet Corn Production, North Carolina State University, 2005. 
• Organic Sweet Corn Production, Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA), 2001.
• Risk Management Toolbox for Specialty Crop Growers, University of Minnesota Extension, 2002.
• State Extension Sweet Corn Specialists, Purdue University.
• Sweet Corn, Vegetables, NASS, USDA - This report, issued five times a year, provides data on sweet corn, including area harvested, prospective area, yield and production for major states.
• Sweet Corn, Vegetables and Melons Situation and Outlook Yearbook, ERS, USDA, May 2008.
 
• Sweet Corn, Midwest Vegetable Production Guide, Purdue University, 2007.
• Sweet Corn, Vegetable Production Guide for Commercial Growers, University of Kentucky, 2006-07.
• Sweet Corn Disease Nursery, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – Comprehensive reports on sweet corn diseases. Photos of symptoms.
• Sweet Corn Fact Sheets, Vegetable MD Online, Cornell University.
• Sweet Corn Monitoring Network, Penn State, 2001 – Entomological resources and related management tools for sweet corn production.

• Watching Corn Grow: A Hedonic Study of the Iowa Landscape, Silvia Secchi, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD), Iowa State University, 2007.

Businesses/Case Studies

• Fresh Supersweet Corn Council, Maitland, Florida - This website, funded by sweet corn growers and shippers in Florida and Georgia, promotes fresh sweet corn.
• Illinois Foundation Seeds Inc. - Provides links to sweet corn products and research. 
• Sweet Corn Farmer Profiles, The New American Farmer, Sustainable Agriculture and Research Education (SARE), USDA - This program offers producer profiles that look at how specific farmers are exploring sustainability.