Barley Production in the U.S.: Key Regions, Uses, and Global Impact

Barley production in the United States holds a vital position in the nation's agricultural economy, particularly in regions such as Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota. Together, these states contribute significantly to the U.S. barley output, accounting for the bulk of production due to favorable growing conditions like fertile soil, sufficient precipitation, and moderate temperatures. In 2023, the U.S. produced approximately 185.04 million bushels of barley, marking a notable increase from prior years, driven by advancements in farming technologies and growing demand. This figure highlights the importance of barley in the U.S. crop system, with output fluctuations closely tied to market demands and environmental conditions.

Barley is a highly versatile crop, serving a range of purposes. A substantial portion is used for animal feed, which supports livestock industries across the U.S. However, the crop’s most prominent role lies in the malting industry, where it is an essential ingredient in beer production. Brewers contract a significant amount of the barley harvest for malting, which has created a symbiotic relationship between barley farmers and the brewing industry. This demand has spurred innovation in barley breeding programs to improve varieties that produce the high-quality grains required for malting. Improved farming practices, including better irrigation and crop rotation techniques, have also played a role in boosting yields.

In addition to domestic use, the U.S. exports barley to several key international markets, with Japan and Mexico being major buyers. The trade of U.S. barley is facilitated by favorable trade agreements like the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and its successor, the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which have allowed for duty-free access to these markets. This has made U.S. barley highly competitive internationally.

Environmental factors such as soil quality, precipitation levels, and temperature significantly affect barley yields. Farmers in the leading barley-producing regions have developed practices tailored to these variables, ensuring consistent production even in fluctuating climatic conditions. As a result, barley remains an essential crop in the U.S., contributing to both domestic industries and international trade markets.
Barley Production in the U.S.: Key Regions, Uses, and Global Impact

Barley: A Versatile and Enduring Staple in Global Agriculture

Barley, like wheat, has been a crucial food crop since ancient times, with cultivation possibly dating back to 15,000 B.C. This early domestication highlights its longstanding importance in human agriculture. Barley stands out among cereal grains due to its exceptional environmental adaptability, thriving in a broader range of conditions than any other cereal. This resilience makes it a versatile crop, equally useful for food and animal feed. Furthermore, barley’s superior suitability for malting makes it indispensable in brewing, contributing significantly to the beer industry.

Despite its versatility, barley’s global production is notably lower than that of other major cereal grains. Its output is about 42% of corn, 38% of wheat, and 43% of rice. The majority of barley cultivated belongs to the species Hordeum vulgare L., which is differentiated into two-rowed and six-rowed types based on the seed arrangement on the plant’s spikelets.

Barley cultivation is geographically widespread, with Russia leading in production, accounting for over 14% of the global crop. Other significant producers include Australia (8%), Canada (6%), the United Kingdom (5%), the United States (3%), and Germany. In the United States, five states—North Dakota, Idaho, Montana, California, and Minnesota—dominate production, contributing over two-thirds of the nation’s crop, primarily through spring planting.

Globally, barley is split almost evenly between animal feed and malting purposes, with only a small fraction (about 2%) used for direct food consumption and up to 5% reserved for seed. On-farm use of barley, particularly for feed, is common, leaving most commercially sold barley designated for malting. This focus on malting has notable implications for the food industry, particularly in the production of breakfast cereals, where malt flours and extracts are valued as flavoring agents.

Barley’s historical significance, adaptability, and diverse applications make it an enduring staple in agriculture, contributing to both food security and cultural practices like brewing.
Barley: A Versatile and Enduring Staple in Global Agriculture

Global Rice: Production & Trade

Rice stands as a cornerstone in global food security, playing a vital role in sustaining populations across the world. This essay delves into the intricacies of global rice production and trade, highlighting key aspects that shape this essential industry.

In terms of production, a handful of countries significantly contribute to the global rice supply. Nations like China, India, and Indonesia emerge as major players, cultivating diverse rice varieties. These varieties, from aromatic Basmati to high-yield hybrids, cater to specific culinary preferences and nutritional needs.

Several factors influence global rice production trends, including climate conditions, technological advancements, and governmental policies. The delicate balance of these factors shapes the quantity and quality of rice harvested worldwide.

The international rice trade is a dynamic arena, with certain nations emerging as major exporters (such as Thailand and Vietnam) and others as major importers (like Nigeria and the Philippines). Trade patterns fluctuate based on market demands, climate events, and geopolitical factors. The delicate interplay of these elements underscores the vulnerability of the global rice market.

Geopolitical factors, including trade agreements and diplomatic relations, significantly impact rice trade dynamics. Shifts in these factors can lead to disruptions in the supply chain, affecting global food security.

Challenges in the rice industry range from environmental concerns, such as water scarcity and climate change, to economic issues like fluctuating prices and income disparities among farmers. However, innovative approaches, such as precision farming and sustainable cultivation practices, present opportunities for mitigating these challenges.

In conclusion, the global production and trade of rice are complex and multifaceted. Understanding the major contributors, varieties, and influencing factors is crucial for addressing challenges and seizing opportunities. As the world grapples with the intricacies of food security, a proactive and sustainable approach to rice production and trade is essential for a resilient future. The continuous evolution of these dynamics will shape the global landscape, impacting the availability and accessibility of this staple food source.
Global Rice: Production & Trade

Production of palm oil

Processing palm oil fruits for edible oil has been practiced in Africa for thousands of years, and the oil produced, highly colored and flavored, is an essential ingredient in much of the traditional West African cuisine.

The oil palm produces two types of oils, palm oil from the fibrous mesocarp and lauric oil from the palm kernel. In the conventional milling process, the fresh fruit bunches are sterilized and stripped of the fruitlets which are then digested and pressed to extract the crude palm oil (CPO).

Crude palm oil is refined to remove impurities. Conversion of CPO to refined oil involves removal of the products of hydrolysis and oxidation, colour and flavour. After refining, the oil may be separated (fractionated) into liquid and solid phases by thermo-mechanical means (controlled cooling, crystallisation, and filtering), and the liquid fraction (olein) is used extensively as a liquid cooking oil in tropical climates, competing successfully with the more expensive groundnut, corn, and sunflower oils.

Palm-kernel oil is extracted as a separate process, involving grinding, heating and the use of an ‘oilseed expeller’ or solvent. The nuts are separated from fibre in the press cake and cracked to obtain palm kernels which are crushed in another plant to obtain crude palm kernel oil (CPKO). The oil then requires clarification in a filter press or by sedimentation. Palm kernel cake is a by-product, which is used as an animal feed.

Fractionation of CPO and CPKO in the refinery produces the liquid stearin fraction and a solid stearin component.
Production of palm oil

Oats production in Canada

Oats have a long and uncertain pedigree, being known since early historical times, for example to the ancient Greeks. Oats are grown in approximately 23 countries around the world. These are concentrated mainly in the northern hemisphere, but also in Australia and Argentina in the southern hemisphere.

Canada is the largest global oats exporter and has one of the largest oat-milling industries in the world, accounting for 15% of total global production and roughly 60% of global exports.

Oats are well suited for production under marginal environments (such as cool climates and soil with limiting nutrients) in comparison to other cereal crops. Western Canada is suited for oat production as many oat varieties flower and mature quickly in the short season conditions.

Production has increase in Manitoba and Saskatchewan since 1995. Both provinces have a closer proximity to the Midwestern US milling market.

The oats markets of Canada and the United States are more closely integrated than the markets of most other commodities.
Oats production in Canada

World peanuts production

Peanuts are a globally important oilseed valued as a source of high-quality cooking oil. Peanuts are also appreciated worldwide as an affordable, flavorful and nutritionally dense snack food.

India, China and Indonesia have the largest peanut-growing areas in Asia, while in Africa the major producers are Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan. In the western hemisphere, the United States, Brazil, and Argentina are the leading peanut producers.

Seventy percent of the world peanut production occurs in the semiarid tropics. The average yield of peanuts in the semiarid tropics (0.8 t/ha of dried pods) is lower than the world average (estimated at 1.1 t/ha of dried pods in 1985) and much lower than yields of over 3 t/ha obtained in the developed countries.

Over 55% of the United States crop goes into peanut butter manufacture: the other 45% is distributed between candy, salted nuts, confections, bakery, items and peanuts crushed for oil.

However, in term of world consumption nearly 70% of the world peanut crop is used for oil product and peanut oil accounts for 20% of the total vegetable oil consumption.
World peanuts production 

The Need for Sustainable Agriculture

The green revolution was a period of extreme innovation that occurred in agriculture predominantly in the 1960's and 1970's, although commenced in the 1940's. During this period huge amounts of research and development were undertaken that increased agricultural productivity significantly, the benefits of which we continue to enjoy today. Initiatives included the development of higher yielding crop varieties, the introduction of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides as well as improving and modernising farm management.

It was these innovations that enabled more food security in the developed world than previously possible. Huge yields were achieved from relatively small areas of land, making food easy to come by in the developed world for most people. As modern farming practices developed, the need for sustainable agriculture was broadened from economic and food sustainability to environmental and social sustainability. While the level of investment in agricultural research and development has been substantially reduced since the green revolution, the knowledge within the sector has greatly increased and agricultural businesses have adjusted their practices to deliver agriculture sustainability.

Sustainable agriculture program
Today all agricultural industries including grains, horticulture, fisheries, sugar and meat are concerned with sustainable agriculture. Agriculture land is not as plentiful as it was during the green revolution and to ensure the sustainability of the industries and importantly the global food supply, sustainable agriculture practices have to be at the forefront of everything the food industry does. In Australia research and development corporations, that represent farmers, invest in research and development to improve the sustainable agricultural practices. Often this is jointly funded with the federal government.

There are also plenty of agriculture schools, primary and secondary as well as sustainable agriculture courses that equip people for careers agriculture. Agricultural jobs are a lot more varied than often thought, with fields in science, engineering, exporting, international relations and e-commerce.

Sustainable agriculture is not just a buzz phrase in countries like Australia, but rather is essential business. With limited arable land, limited water and increasing climatic variability and extreme weather events improving sustainable agricultural practices is fundamental to the future success of the industry and to the worlds food supply.

Without an increase in investment in research and development the advances of the green revolution might not be enough to ensure that people continue to enjoy food security.

Sustainable farm
A sustainable farm has to be able to produce food without depleting the natural resources required to grow more produce in the future. As practices have evolved and knowledge about sustainable farming practices have expanded farmers have become aware that they are responsible for much more than their crops and animals. Where once farmers grazed animals, today sustainable livestock farmers think about themselves as managing three living ecosystems: their animals; the grass and groundcover that animals need to eat to survive and the soils which ultimately is the most important element to manage. Without good soil health sustainable farming can not exist. If soil health is depleted the grass or crops won't grow as well. Environmental degradation on the farm and in the surrounding areas is also a reality if soil health is not a focus of sustainable farming. Without good soil health the structure of the soil can be compromised leading to dust storms and also run off of top soil in heavy rains into waterways.

Agriculture irrigation
Some sectors of agriculture rely heavily on irrigation, such as rice and cotton. Other industries like soy, horticulture, grains and cattle grazing also use some irrigation. Modern irrigation spread widely with the green revolution as a way to produce food in areas that didn't have natural or adequate rain flow to support crops, although irrigation can be traced back to early Egyptian times.

Irrigation is somewhat of a polarising subject, particularly in areas of water scarcity. There are concerns that water is being diverted from its natural course, which has environmental impacts downstream. However others argue that without irrigation in some parts of the world that sustainable agriculture would not be possible. The debate is slowly moving towards finding a point where both objectives can be met to deliver sustainable agriculture and sustainable river and water systems downstream from where the agriculture irrigation is occurring.
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Fruit of melons

Melons belong, as do squash, to the cucumber.

There are to general types, the cucumis species, which includes muskmelon, cantaloupe and honeydew melons and the citrullus species, including the watermelon and the Chinese watermelon.

There are numerous varieties of melon.

Although they may be grown in almost any of the 50 states, except possibly Alaska, cucumis species require warm weather for good growth and 75 – 130 days from planting to harvesting; therefore, most are grown commercially in the southern states.

The citrullus species are grown in the South, but can also be grown those northern states where 130 – 140 days of growing weather prevail. In warmer climates, about 85 days are required from planting to maturity.

Melons are planted as seed but may be started in greenhouses or hot frames and set out as plants.

Melons do not improve in flavor after harvesting, hence, are picked when fully ripe.

Care must be taken to prevent bruising during harvesting and handling. Melons are mostly handled as the fresh product.

At packing plant, melons are washed, drained, dried and shipped to retail markets in wooden crates.

Melons are not preserved by drying. Some melons are frozen as melon balls.

In preparations for freezing, the melons are halved, the seeds are removed. And the melon meat is removed in ball-shaped pieces.

The melon balls are washed with sprays of water drained and filled into liquid-tight cartons and covered with syrup (25-30% sugar), and the cartons are sealed.

This product is frozen and stored at 0 degree F or below until shipped to the retailer.

Frozen melons should be held at 0 degree F or below until sold to the consumer. Some melons used in the production of fresh fruit salad.
Fruit of melons

Pears Production

There are many varieties of pears. The trees are set out as 1 year old stock, and once they start to bear fruit, they may continue to do so for many years.

Ordinarily, the trees are lightly pruned each year. Pears are grown in essentially all states of United States, but California, Oregon and Washington account for the bulk of the commercial production.

The Bartlett pear is the most important variety, both for consumption as fresh ad for preservation by canning. Pears do not ripen successfully in the tree and are harvested while still green. They are transported to processing plants in lug boxes or pallet bins, latter holding about 1000 lb (453.6) of fruits.

At the processing plant, pears are washed in weak acid or alkaline solutions to remove spray residues. They then washed in water, drained and inspected to remove defective specimens.

They are also usually graded for size, especially if they are to be canned, before placing in storage. Pears to be sold as fresh are cooled to 30 - 32 degree F and stored at this temperature pears have a storage of 2 – 7 months depending on variety.

The storage life of pears may be extended by about 3 months by regulating the oxygen content of the storage atmosphere to 2.5% and the carbon dioxide content to 5%. Pears that are overripe when picked are subject to scald and core breakdown during storage. Pears to be used as fresh fruits are ripened at 60 – 70 degree F prior to or during shipment. After they are ripened, they should be held at 32 – 35 degree F until processed or sold to the consumer.

World wide, China is the largest pear producing country, followed by Italy. The United States is the third largest pear producer in world. 30% of United States fresh pear is shipped top foreign markets. There are 81 countries commercially produced pears on 4.3 million acres.
Pears Production

Palm oil tree (Elaeis guineensis)

Oil palm tree (Elaeis guineensis) is a monocot of the order of Arecales and belongs to family Palmae and subfamily Cocosideae.

Since 2006, the palm oil has overtaken soybean to become the most important oil crop in the world.

In East Asian countries, palm oil is the major feedstock for biodiesel. The period from 1995-2010, palm oil production more than tripled to 46.7 million MT, with Indonesia 47% and Malaysia 38% as the main producers.

USDA estimates that world palm oil production for  2014/2015 will be 63.29 million MT.

Palm oil is used for cooking, margarine, vanaspati, shortenings, detergents and cosmetics. It is also used in pharmaceuticals industry as a source of carotenes.

Oil palm trees are capable of producing palm oil all year round, rather than during just one or two harvests.

Oil palm wood is growing in value, especially with high demand from the United States, and even the cuttings and discarded fruit husks can be used in biofuel.

The oil palm is an unbranched evergreen tree, reaching a height of 18-30 m and having a stout trunk with diameter of 22-75 cm and covered with leaf bases.

Optimal plant density is 145 trees/hectare with a distance of 10m between trees.
Palm oil tree (Elaeis guineensis)

Cocoa crop

Cocoa, Theobroma cacao L., is a perennial crop, originally from the South and Central America and normally cultivated in the tropics from latitude 18 ° N to 15 ° S, mainly in small farms, under the shade of native trees.

The plant is grown for its fruits known as cocoa pods. When ripe, these pods are cut down and opened and the beans are removed. The pods contain seeds, which are fermented with mucilage surrounding them and then dried to give fermented dried cocoa, the raw material used in food industry.

Cocoa is now widely grown in the tropics, usually at altitudes less than 300 m above sea-level, where it needs a fairly high rainfall and good soil.

Rainfall must be plentiful and well distributed, with average monthly rainfalls in excess of 1500 mm.

Cocoa tress can take up to four years from planting before producing enough fruit to merit harvesting. They may live for 80 years or more, although the fully-productive period is usually about 20 years.

Cocoa trees do not reach full production capacity until they are roughly 10 years of age.

The cocoa beans are the major ingredients for the cocoa industry, for the manufacturing the chocolate and derivatives, cosmetics and medicines.

Cocoa processing takes place mainly in importing countries. The processes include shelling, roasting and grinding the beans. Almost half of each bean after shelling consists of a fat called cocoa butter.

In the manufacture of cocoa powder for use as a beverage this fat is largely removed.
Cocoa crop

Planting of winter wheat

Winter wheat is a cool season crop that is most productive when planted in autumn since cool weather from emergence to the early reproductive stage favors tillering and the subsequent development of large spikes.

It goes dormant during the winter and is harvested for grain during the following spring. Winter wheat requires ‘vernalization’ in order to complete its growth cycle.

Wheat is usually planted in September or early October when the soil is sufficiently moist to germinate the seed.

Wheat is grown from the same seeds or kernels that people eat. On large commercial farms, where wheat is grown for sale or export, farmers still sometimes save seed from previous years or they buy seed each year from seed companies.

Before the farmers can plant the seed, they add nutrients to the soil.

When they ready to plant, some farmers till the soil with a plow in order to break the soil up so it is soft enough for the seeds to take root.

After planting, freezing temperatures and a blanket of snow protect the seeds while they lay dormant awaiting the spring thaw.

Only after exposure to a period of low temperatures will the plants send up a stem and flower to form seeds in early summer.

About two-thirds of US wheat is winter wheat. Winter wheat can survive cold temperatures as low as -40 °F if protected by snow.
Planting of winter wheat

Corn Processing: The Making of Bourbon

Bourbon is the best known and probably the most popular whiskey produced in the United States.

Bourbon whiskey takes it name from the old Bourbon County of Kentucky to the west of Virginia.

Bourbon has a distinctive taste, and to substitute another whiskey when the recipe calls for bourbon is a little like saying any old spice will do when preparing a meal.

Bourbon whiskey must be produced and matured in the USA, according to the following restrictions:
*The grain must contain at least 51% corn
*Maximum distillation strength must be not more than 80% ABV
*New make whiskey must enter the casks at no more than 62.5% ABV
*Maturation must be carried out in newly charred American white oak casks for a minimum of two years.
*Bottled at a minimum of 40% alcohol

The corn is milled to a specified particle size, mixed with local limestone water and then steamed in a large cereal cooker.

The basic sweetness of the sprit comes from corn, the predominant grain ingredient used in bourbon.

After cooling, milled malted barley and rye are added to provide enzymes for hydrolysis of the starch to fermentable sugars.

Enzymes in the barley assist in the conversion of the starch on the mash into simple sugars that will become alcohol during the fermentation process.

Spent mash from previous distillation is added at this stage or just before the pitching of yeast. The mash then cooled and fermentation proceed for several days.

During the fermentation. Organic compounds called esters or fruity flavor substances are created that add flavoring qualities to the fermented mash.

The routine aging of bourbon began in the mid 19th century. Aging improves the taste of the bourbon significantly, enriching, mellowing, and polishing it.

Bourbon are often charcoal filtered whiskeys that are aged in new oak barrels.

Straight bourbon must be aged for at least two years. It usually is aged for four to six years and may be aged for 20 years or more.

During aging, the bourbon evaporates through barrel, the portion lost is known in the industry as the “angle’s share.” As a result, the alcohol content rises.

Most bourbons are released from the barrel and then diluted to make a minimum of 40% ABV but some are ‘barrel proof’ and bottled straight from the barrel.
Corn Processing: The Making of Bourbon

Crop of Peanuts

By 500 to 100 BC peanuts were so common on the coast of Peru. Peanuts were eaten in exactly the way they are eaten today – toasted in the shell as a snack.

The peanut made its way to Africa a half millennia ago and with the slave trade found its way to North America.

The peanut (A. hypogaea), also called groundnut and earthnut, among other names, is technically a pea not a nut. It is the most popular nut in the United States.

Peanuts are important legume crop in the warm climates of the world.

Peanuts are produced in Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas. India and China together account for more than 50% of the world’s total production.

It is an unusual plant in the sense that it flowers above ground, but fruits below ground.

Peanuts is a food high in proteins, monosaturated fat, and the antioxidant reservratol, the peanut is showing it self to be an able protector of the human heart and blood vessel.
Crop of Peanuts

Crop of avocado

The avocado Persea americna Mill is a major fruit crop of the tropics and subtropics. Avocado ranks 10th in total production among fruit crops after Musa spp. (banana and plantain).

The major production areas are in the Western Hemisphere. The most important producing countries are Mexico, the United States, Brazil, Dominican Republic and Indonesia.

Botanically, avocado fruit are considered berries. They consists of a single, large seed with two cotyledons surrounded by the tick fleshy, edible mesocarp and the rind.

Avocado prefer mild winters of tropics and subtropics. Plants are extremely sensitive to poor drainage, heavy clay and saline conditions and windy situations.

Oil may be obtained from the fruit pulp and pit. It has a high nutritional value since it contains essential fatty acids. Minerals, proteins and vitamins A, B6, C, D and E.

The content of saturated fatty acids in the pulp of the fruit and in the oil is low; on contrary, it is very high in mono-unsaturated fatty acids. The oil content of the fruit is in the range 12-30%.
Crop of avocado

Oranges

Oranges
The orange is utilized as a food to a greater extent than any other citrus fruit. The trees are set out from nursery stock and must be protected from freezing weather. As with other citrus trees some pruning has to be done each year.

The five states that produce oranges commercially are Florida, California, Arizona, Texas and Louisiana, with Florida being by farm, the greatest producer.

About three quarters of all oranges in this country, are used for the production of frozen juice concentrate and for the so-called “fresh” orange juice.

Fresh oranges are pick, and handled much in the same manner as are grapefruit. When picked, the solids to acid ratio should be 12:1 – 18:1. Oranges may be dyed by immersing in a solution of certified food dye at 120 degree F for about 3 min prior to waxing polishing and cooling, since the color of the skin often green when the fruit is picked.

Some oranges are cooled to 32 degree – 40 degree F and others to 40 - 44 degree F depending on variety. They should be held at these temperatures until sold to the consumer, under these conditions, they have storage life of 1 – 3 months, depending on variety.
Oranges

Small Millets

Small Millets
Small millets are small grained cereals mainly grown in arid, semi arid or montane zones as rain fed crops under marginal and sub-marginal conditions of soil fertility and moisture. Small millets are important to global agriculture and are a major cereal crops, grown in fairly large areas of South Asia, China, the former USSR and Africa. They are also found in areas of the United States and Europe on a limited scale.

Finger millet is the principal small millet species grown in South Asia, followed by kodo millet, foxtail millet, little millet, proso millet and barnyard millet, in that order. Foxtail millet and pros millet are important in China and the latter is grown extensively in southwestern USSR. In Africa, finger millet, teff and fonio have local importance.

The average global productivity of small millets is almost 1 t/ha. There has been a trend in the last two decades to replace these crops with major cereal like maize and wheat, which has been a factor in the reduction of area under these crops. Presently, small millets are cultivated in areas where they produce a more dependable harvest than other crop, this has been largely responsible for their continued presence and cultivation in many parts of the world there is now an increasing realization of this fact and a greater awareness that these crops merit more research and development.
Small Millets

Cowpeas Production and Storage

Cowpeas Production and Storage
Cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata) are believed to have originated in India and have been spread by man to other parts of Asia and Africa and then in the seventeenth century by way of the West Indies, to the Americas. They are now grown in warm and tropical climates around the world and about 80,000 ha of the crop is cultivated in southern parts of the Unites States, particularly in California, Georgia and Texas. There is considerable variation in the appearance of cowpea according to variety: one of the most popular varieties is the blackeyed bean. About 60,000 t of dry cowpeas are produced annually in U.S.A, of which originate from the state of California, they are consumed locally and also exported to over 40 countries.

Cowpeas are moved from farm to warehouse. Scheduled fumigations with methyl bromide or phosphine protect the commodity from insect infestation. There is a zero tolerance of insects on cowpea; this results on stocks being fumigated at least four times a year to ensure that they are pest free. It is extremely rare for the crop to be marketed within the year of production, resulting in an overlap of harvest in store and subsequently an increase in the cost of pest management.
Cowpeas Production and Storage

Plums Production and Processing

Plums Production and Processing
Plum trees are set up when they are one year old and bear fruit the next year. There are many varieties of plums grown in many areas of the United States, The prune plum, used for production of dried prunes, is grown mainly in California. Purple plum types, used for canning, are grown mainly in Oregon and Washington.

At the processing plant, plums are washed in diluted acid or alkaline solutions to remove spray residues, and then rinse with water. They are next inspected to remove defective specimens and graded for size. Those to be sold as fresh are packed in boxes and air cooled to 31 to 32 degree F. In this condition, they have storage life of 2 – 4 weeks. Plums to be canned are cleaned, inspected and graded. Then they are placed in cans by hand and covered with 25 – 30% sugar syrup. The filled, open cans are then heat exhausted in water at 180 – 190 degree F for 12 – 15 minutes, after which the cans are sealed and heated in boiling water for 20 – 25 minutes, depending on the size of the container.

For production of dried prunes, plums are washed, dipped in boiling lye solution (0.25 – 1.0% sodium hydroxide) for 5 – 30 sec, and washed. The lye treatment enhances drying by its action on the skin of the fruit. The plums are then dried to a moisture content of 22 – 25%.

Dried prunes may be canned in syrup of 20 Brix with 0.4% citric acid, or they may be canned without added fluid (dry packed). Prunes may also be packaged and distributed as such.

A significant quantity of prune juice is produced. Prunes are steamed 8 – 10 min to soften them and to inactivate enzymes. They are then reduced to a puree during which time they are pitted, the puree is then cooled to about 120 degree F. The puree is filtered and the juice obtained is adjusted to about 22.5 Brix, pasteurized, filled into bottles or cans that are then placed on their sides to sterilize the tops, and cooled. Plums are not commercially frozen.
Plums Production and Processing

Production of Corn (Zea mays L.) in United States

Production of Corn (Zea mays L.) in United States
Corn (Zea mays L.) or maize as it is known in Europe and other parts of the world, originated in the Western hemisphere. Although it is now grown around the world, production of field corn in the United States (270 million tones annually) exceeds that in any other country and is usually about equal to that of the rest of the world put together. Illinois and Iowa lead all other states, but Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, Indiana and Ohio also have substantial crops, and some is grown in every state.

Field corn is entirely different as a food crop from the sweet corn (Zea mays var. rugosa) that is harvested immature in summer and cooked fresh on the cob or cut from the cob in food plants and preserved by canning or freezing for later consumer use as vegetable. Field corn is allowed to mature before harvest in the fall. It is shelled as a part of the harvesting operation and typically requires drying on the farm before storage or delivery to country elevator, grain terminal, or mill.

A very small part of the field corn syrup crop is of white corn varieties, used for the making the hominy grits and white cornmeal sold at retail in the United States, the grits being for use as a vegetable menu item or hot breakfast cereal, and the meal for making white corn bread and muffin. However, since corn is grown primarily for animal feed, for which the yellow varieties are preferred, availability and economics dictate that yellow corn must be the grain of choice for most food ingredient uses, including breakfast cereals.

The corn is dry-milled to separate the germ and bran from the endosperm, the larger particles of which go into the flaking grits, which are then cooked (with other ingredients), dried, tempered, flaked, and toasted. Progressively smaller endosperm particles form corn meal and corn flour, which can be used as ingredients in extruded corn or mixed cereal grain. The bran fraction, for many years used only in animal feed, and the germ press-cake, after extraction of its oil content, are now recovered and made available in an edible grade as a fiber ingredient for cereals and other food products.
Production of Corn (Zea mays L.) in United States