Indiana grows more popcorn than any other state, so on National Popcorn Day, Hoosiers are celebrating a treat that is a state tradition and popcorn seeds that are sold around the world."We're the number one popcorn state in the country!" beamed Don Lamb, Director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture.Lamb is also a Boone County popcorn farmer. "Anytime I say we grow popcorn, you get a smile on somebody's face," Lamb continued. "Everybody really enjoys popcorn, likes popcorn, and likes the fact that that's something we do here in Indiana."Popcorn became Indiana's official state snack in 2021.National Popcorn Day was celebrated on January 19, despite it not being the growing season. When the fields are not snowy, each year, Lamb estimates that Hoosiers grow between 70,000 to 100,000 acres of popcorn.Just because the fields are empty doesn't mean a popcorn farmer's work is done."This time of year, the popcorn plants are really busy at manufacturing, at processing the popcorn," Lamb continued. "They're really relying on the farmers to bring them that supply as it's needed." Lamb Farms has been sending trucks full of 2025 popcorn out from its silos recently to meet this demand.Not only is popcorn grown in Indiana, popcorn research is going on, too."Weaver is a family of popcorn companies, for different parts along the popcorn stage of the popcorn life cycle," said Brad Thada.Thada is the Director of Sales of Weaver Hybrids in Montgomery County."We are the first stage, kind of the ag side of the companies. We do popcorn breeding and seed production, and then sell our seed to farmers," Thada continued.At Weaver Hybrids, research is popping, from the greenhouse to the movie-theater style popcorn poppers."Every year we start about 5,000 new popcorn hybrids that we're trialing, and then hopefully about eight to ten years from then, we're going to have one that we can commercially release," Thada shared. One study involved popping popcorn, which drained into a graduated cylinder. The height of the popcorn in the cylinder was recorded to determine how tall the kernels popped."Microwave or movie theater or caramel corn, it's all different varieties of popcorn that lend themselves to pop in a way that's best for that use," Thada explained.You may not realize the research that goes into perfecting your popcorn, including which types make the best snack."This one, we call it a 'mushroom' type. It's more of a ball shape," Thada showed me a jar of puffy, circular-looking popcorn. "Those ones are better for coating applications, so if you're going to put caramel or chocolate on it." "Whereas the other one, this is called 'butterfly' type. You can see the wings that kind of come off the sides of the flake. It ends up being much more tender, so a lot of movie theater or microwave applications, it's a better mouth feel, or better way to taste it," Thada shared. Using this research, the company develops popcorn seeds, which are sold throughout the United States and worldwide.According to Thada, some popcorn hotspots around the world include: Europe Turkey South Africa Brazil ArgentinaSelling seeds around the world has expanded the business enough that they need a new facility. The new seed processing facility will be in Crawfordsville, and should open later this year.Why was Indiana chosen as the headquarters for this research?"It really comes down to a lot of these family-owned companies that started the popcorn industry," Thada shared. "Those families started here in Indiana. You think about the Weavers or a number of other highly regarded popcorn companies in Indiana, still a lot of them just had their family farm here in Indiana, and they continue to grow their companies. The farmers around here are used to growing popcorn, and they know how to do it well now." This expansion is not only great for popcorn-lovers, but should be great for the economy, according to Lamb."Agricultural dollars turn over in a community many times, and so popcorn is just another piece of that puzzle where agriculture gets to be a great economic development tool," Don Lamb said.If you'd like to support Indiana popcorn producers, you can find a list of Indiana-grown products here.___ ...read more read less