Corn

Corn is an Iron Teeth-exclusive crop that matures in 10 days and yields 2 Corn per harvest. Corn is processed at a Food Factory, where it is converted into an impressive 60 Corn Rations per batch. This extraordinary multiplication factor makes Corn one of the highest-output food sources in the entire game, capable of feeding massive populations from relatively modest farm acreage. The Food Factory requires Metal Blocks to construct, placing Corn Rations firmly in the late-game tier of Iron Teeth food production, but the payoff is well worth the investment for settlements that have reached the industrial stage.

The Corn production chain involves Farmhouses for growing the crop and a Food Factory for processing. Each tile takes 0.2 hours to plant, and the 10-day growth cycle is among the longer maturation times for Iron Teeth crops. However, the yield of 2 Corn per tile combined with the Food Factory's 60 Corn Rations output creates a staggering food efficiency. Each farm tile effectively produces 120 food units per 10-day cycle (2 Corn times 60 rations per Corn batch, though actual batch sizes depend on the recipe), giving Corn an unmatched food-per-tile-per-day ratio in the late game. The Food Factory requires both Metal Blocks to build and Power to operate, so this chain has significant infrastructure prerequisites. Beehives can reduce the 10-day growth time by 30%, bringing it down to 7 days.

Strategically, Corn is the crop that Iron Teeth players should target for their late-game food economy. Once Metal Blocks are available and a Food Factory is constructed, transitioning a portion of farmland from Cassava to Corn can dramatically scale up food production. The Food Factory also processes Eggplant (into Eggplant Rations with Canola Oil), so building one unlocks two high-value food chains simultaneously. On maps with long wet seasons, the 10-day growth time is manageable, but on drought-heavy maps, irrigation infrastructure is essential to protect Corn fields. Compared to Cassava (5 days, 10 Fermented Cassava), Corn takes longer to grow and requires more advanced infrastructure, but its output per harvest is far greater. A mature Iron Teeth settlement typically runs a diversified food operation with Kohlrabi for quick harvests, Cassava for mid-game bulk nutrition, and Corn plus Eggplant for late-game mass production. Corn Rations represent the pinnacle of Iron Teeth agricultural efficiency, capable of sustaining populations of hundreds of beavers from a single well-managed farm district.