The $5 Billion Corn States

The USDA has reported that there were five corn states in 2011 that generated over $5 billion in corn sales:

1. Iowa – $14.5 billion
2. Illinois – $12.3 billion
3. Nebraska – $9.4 billion
4. Minnesota – $7.0 billion
5. Indiana $5.3 billion

These five states generated 63.4% of all corn sales in the US for 2011.  The states of Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin each generated between $3 and $4 billion of corn sales.

For soybeans, the US only had one state over $5 billion and that was Iowa at $5.5 billion with Illinois at $4.95 billion.  The top three corn states generated more in sales than all of the US soybean production of $35.8 billion.

There were only four wheat states that generated over $1 billion in sales:

1. Kansas $2.0 billion
2. North Dakota $1.7 billion
3. Montana $1.3 billion
4. Washington $1.1 billion

Iowa generated more in corn sales at $14.5 billion than the whole US wheat crop of $14.4 billion.

We can see why corn is king in the US based on these statistics.