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How a record corn crop makes for a better Super Bowl

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A record corn harvest has resulted in an abundance of chicken wings for Super Bowl Sunday.

As if growing the food, fiber, feed and fuel to meet the needs of a growing world population wasn’t enough, corn farmers are also making an impact on this Sunday’s Super Bowl.

When the Denver Broncos play the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl, millions of Americans will plop down on their couches or at their favorite pub to watch the game and enjoy time with family and friends.

They will also be eating chicken wings, lots of chicken wings. It is estimated that Americans will eat 1.25 billionĀ chicken wings during the Super Bowl. That’s 572 wings for every seat in every stadium in the NFL.

Wings usually go up in price as the Super Bowl nears and demand increases. But thanks to a record corn crop this past summer of almost 14 billion bushels, wings are the cheapest they’ve been since the 2011 Super Bowl. Many bars are even offering free wings during the big game.

Massive drought in the Corn Belt hurt corn harvests the previous two years and corn prices increased to over $8 per bushel in the summer of 2012. Mother Nature was kinder to the corn crop in 2013 and corn farmers responded with a record harvest, which led to corn prices decreasing by more than 50 percent.

Cheaper corn means lower feed costs and increased poultry production, resulting in an abundant supply of tasty wings for the big game.

Corn farmers might not be able to dash 35 yards down the sideline for a game-winning touchdown or kick the Super-Bowl winning field goal, but thanks to their efforts, everyone who eat wings during the Super Bowl will enjoy America’s unofficial national holiday that much more.

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