Corn Belt | |
|---|---|
Agricultural or cultural region of the United States | |
 2018 production of corn in the United States | |
| Country |  United States |
| States |  Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Michigan Minnesota Missouri Nebraska North Dakota Ohio South Dakota Wisconsin |
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100 to 109
Less than 99
Announced facility (2014)
TheCorn Belt is a region of theMidwestern United States and part of theSouthern United States that, since the 1850s, has dominatedcorn production in the United States. InNorth America,corn is the common word formaize. More generally, the concept of the Corn Belt connotes the area of the Midwest dominated by farming and agriculture, though it stretches down into the South as well reaching intoKentucky.[1][2]
There is lack of consensus regarding the constituents of the Corn Belt, although it often includesIowa,Illinois,Indiana, southernMichigan, westernOhio, easternNebraska, easternKansas, southernMinnesota, and parts ofMissouri.[3] It also sometimes includesSouth Dakota,North Dakota, all of Ohio,Wisconsin, all of Michigan, and Kentucky.[4] Some people and industries break the Corn Belt down even further and refer to it as the Eastern Corn Belt and the Western Corn Belt.[5]
The region is characterized by level land, deep fertile soils, and a high organic soil concentration.[6]
As of 2008, the top four corn-producing states were Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, and Minnesota, accounting for more than half of the corn growth in the U.S.[7]
More recently, the Corn Belt was mapped at the county level using the Land use and Agricultural Management Practices web-Service (LAMPS),[8] along with animated maps of changes in time (2010–2016).[9]
William Scully (1821-1906), from a wealthy landowningCatholic family in WestTipperary, Ireland, immigrated to Chicago in 1851. He bought up hundreds of thousands of acres of prime Corn Belt farmland in the Midwest, and rented it to tenants. By 1906 he owned 225,000 acres in Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, and Missouri, renting it out to 1200 tenants.[10]
On account of new agricultural technology developments between 1860 and 1970, the Corn Belt went from producing mixed crops and livestock into becoming an area focused strictly on wheat-cash planting. After 1970, increased crop and meat production required an export outlet, but global recession and a strong dollar reduced exports and created serious problems even for the best farm managers.[3]
In 1956, formerVice PresidentHenry A. Wallace, a pioneer of hybrid seed, declared that the Corn Belt had developed the "most productive agricultural civilization the world has ever seen".[11]
Most corn grown today is fed to livestock, especially hogs and poultry. In recent decades,soybeans have grown in importance.
By 1950, 99% of corn has been grown from hybrids.
In 1997, theUSEPA published its report on theUnited States' ecoregions, in part based on "land use". Its "Level III" region classification contains three contiguous "Corn Belt" regions,Western (47), Central (54), and Eastern (55), stretching from Indiana to eastern Nebraska.[12][13]
