Corn Belt is major agricultural region of the U.S. Midwest where corn acreage once exceeded that of any other crop. It is now commonly called the Feed Grains and Livestock Belt. Today the Corn Belt stretches from Kansas and Nebraska to Ohio, its southern boundary embraces parts of Missouri and Kentucky; its northern border cuts through Dakota, Minnesota and Michigan – a uniquely productive region. (Figure 1) However, Michigan and Wisconsin also produce significant amounts of corn. [2:1] Large-scale commercial and mechanized farming prevails in this region of deep, fertile, well-drained soils and long, hot, humid summers. The belt produces much of the U.S. corn crop, but agriculture has diversified; soybeans are an important yield. Winter wheat and alfalfa are also significant crops in the area. [7]
Some scholars have suggested that use of the phrase “Corn Belt” obscures the importance of the livestock and the diverse field crops that its farmers produce. Nor have the farming patterns and boundaries of the region remained static through the years. But it is true to say that in the upper watershed of the Mississippi there lies a great farming region where farmers key their operations to the corn crop as they do nowhere else in the United States. In other words, Illinois and Iowa have long been the heart of the Corn Belt. [2:1] …
