As is well known, corn and soybean production is concentrated in the Corn Belt, with significant amounts of production occurring in the Upper Midwest, parts of the Great Plains and down the Mississippi River.

Corn Concentration

In the U.S., 50% of the corn is produced in the 220 counties with the largest production. These counties are predominately located center of the Corn Belt (see map). States in the Corn Belt with counties in the top 50% of production include Iowa (66 counties), Illinois (43 counties), Minnesota (37 counties), Nebraska (35 counties), South Dakota (11 counties), Indiana (7 counties) and North Dakota (6 counties). Other states that have counties in the 220 include Wisconsin (6 counties), Texas (2 counties), Kansas (3 counties), Colorado (3 counties) and Missouri (1 county).

corn production by county

Seventy-five percent of U.S. production is produced in 456 counties, the above 220 counties plus 236 more counties. These 456 counties are predominately in the Corn Belt. In addition to the states with counties that account for 50% of production, additional states with counties in 75% of U.S. production include Ohio (27 counties), Michigan (12 counties), Mississippi (3 counties), Louisiana (3 counties), Washington (1 county), Pennsylvania (1 county), Oklahoma (1 county), Kentucky (1 county), Delaware (1 county) and California (1 county).




Adding the next 297 largest counties in terms of production yields 90% of total production. Most of these counties still are in the Corn Belt. Additional states not listed above with counties contributing to 90% of total U.S. production include North Carolina and New York.

As one would expect, most of the U.S. corn is produced in and on the periphery of the Corn Belt. Other area contributing sizable amounts to total production include the western Great Plains (western Nebraska, western Kansas, eastern Colorado and the panhandles of Oklahoma and Texas) and the Mississippi River Delta (Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas).