Corn Belt

corn is an important crop we eat corn as bread cereals and as a vegetable but most of the Corn is eaten by animals then we eat their products milk eggs and meat because Americans like to eat meat many farmers grow corn and feed it to animals wherever we find corn growing we usually find Hogs nearby because Hogs produce more meat from the same amount of corn than any other animal feeding Hogs and other animals provides profitable year- round work for farmers who live in places such as the American Corn Belt where it is too cold to grow field crops in the winter corn is grown in many areas of the world but half the world's corn is grown in the United States although some corn is grown in each state 2/3 of the Corn of the United States is grown in an area called The Corn Belt why do we have a Corn Belt here one reason is that the soil is fertile let's see why thousands of years ago glaciers moved into the area grinding up some of the rocks and laying down new material material that covered the old surface when the glaciers melted on this mineral rich and moisture holding land grasses and trees grew the decaying grasses and trees helped to enrich the soil the soils in the southern portion of this area were made richer as a result of glaciation another reason why we have a Corn Belt here is because of a favorable climate for good yields corn needs at least 120 frost free days a year and it also needs hot summers south of this line the warm season is long enough every year to grow corn corn needs adequate rainfall east of this line the rainfall is usually sufficient but good corn can be grown west of it with irrigation climate and soil have helped to create the Corn Belt where it is corn has been grown here for a long time the Indians grew it for food along with squash and beans the Pioneer American settlers who came here from the East were corn farmers who brought their own seed with them these p pioner Farmers settled first in an area that is now in and near the Eastern corn Bel they made their money by raising Hogs many of them butchered their own packed the meat in salt to preserve it and took it on homemade flatboats to the southern states where they sold it to people who grew cotton others not on water well that would turn over the tough but Rich Prairie sod much of this land is so flat that ditches had to be dug to drain it before it could be farmed across this flat land railroads so important to the development of the Corn Bel were easy to build they brought the fuel Lumber and Machinery that the farmers needed and transported to markets the Hogs cattle and grain that the farmer sold around the railroad stations towns and Villages grew up to serve the farmers needs more railroads led to Chicago than to any other city so Chicago became the leading Center of meat packing although it was on the edge of the Corn Belt packing meat Distributing merchandise and Manufacturing farm and railroad equipment caused Chicago to grow very fast so the Corn Belt which had begun in the Ohio River Valley expanded Westward [Music] this is the location and size of the Corn Belt at about the time your grandparents were born although the location in size hasn't changed much since the amount of corn produced here has greatly increased as farming practices have changed animals were once the chief source of power on the farms when tractors replaced them one man could Farm more land the level and gently rolling fields of the Corn Belt are well adapted to the use of machines machines are now used to pick the corn ears remove their husks and shell them tasks Farmers once did by hand nowadays farmers buy specially develop seeds known as hybrids that grow into plants that will yield more corn also bringing higher yields is the increased use of liquid and gaseous fertilizers that are less expensive what happens to the tremendous amount of corn that is grown in the Corn Belt how is it used if we let this ear of corn represent all or 100% of the corn grown in the Corn Belt this much or 45 % is fed to Hogs 177% is fed to poultry 12% to Da cattle and 11% to Beef Cattle 5% is Shi to other countries 4% is used for such Industrial Products as alcohol starch paper and fiber boards only 3% is processed into human foods and 3% is used for seed when we see all these uses at the same time we can observe that 85% of the corn grown in the Corn Belt is fed to farm animals and only 15% is used otherwise although corn occupies more land than any other sing crop in the Corn Belt only this much of the crop land is used for corn what other crops are grown here in Western Ohio and Eastern Indiana wheat for example is an important crop in addition to Corn of course in this area there are both Hog Farms and dairy farms let's see how Mr Bruce iddings uses the land on his dairy farm in Western Ohio in order to preserve soil fertility Mr iddings changes the location of his crops from year to year a practice known as crop rotation let's take one field as an example he plants corn on it the first year oats the second year and hay the third year [Music] then with corn he begins the three-year cycle over again the next year during the summer months Mr iddings Harvest several crops of hay after having been mowed and raked into rows by machines the hay is picked up and [Music] bailed the bailed hay is stored in the barn for feeding to cattle Mr Tings has about 35 cows in his Dairy heard when it is time for them to leave the pasture his son John often goes out on His Pony to get [Music] them dairy farms in this area provide milk for some of the cities of the Eastern [Music] cornbelt although most of the corn of this area is fed to Hogs and dairy cattle as ripe ear corn or shelled corn some of the Corn on Dairy Farms is chopped green for silage Mr iddings hires other men with their equipment to do this job for him the stalks leaves and ears are all chopped together [Music] this Green Feed is then taken to a silo just outside the dairy barn where it is blown up and Into The Silo through the open roof the silos are filled while the ears are still soft and the stalks Green in order to provide the Green Feed that cattle need during the winter at all times of the year there is much work to be done on a dairy farm Mr iding operates the milking machines and cleans the milking parlor twice a day Mrs Tings helps clean the milking machines and Equipment the children have their own calves to care for as 4 club projects the Prairie Land of East Central Illinois was some of the last land in that state to be brought under culation because the land was so flat and swampy drainage was necessary here on some of the the richest soil in the world a major crop is soybeans but corn is still the most important one oats and other small grains are sometimes grown in rotation typical of farms here is this one that Mr Ralph Johnson rents from his father-in-law the harvested oats soybeans and corn are sold for cash because the farm is close enough to the Chicago Market to keep the transportation costs low no farm animals here lots of machines and modern conveniences in this house where Mrs Johnson was born the family lives in much the same way as families do in the suburbs of cities in that part of the Corn Bel that is near the Missouri River the Farms are larger in size and more land on each Farm is used for growing corn here with large applications of fertilizers corn is grown year after year on the same land corn and hay are the only crops on this Farm in Western Iowa that is operated by Mr Charles milky it might be called a feeder Farm because Hogs and beef cattle are its marketed products these Cals were unloaded just last night after a trip from their former home on a ranch west of the Corn Bel they are being fed on this farm for the first time Mr milky bought them to fatten them on the corn he grows later he will sell them at a higher price as corn fattened beef Mr milky has been feeding this other lot of cattle for a year to get them ready for Market the cattle never leave the feeder Lots until they are loaded onto trucks to be taken to [Music] Market the large amounts of corn raised to feed all these animals require several large silos for storage Mr milky is now filling a vertical Silo with chopped ripened ears of corn about a month ago he filled a trench Silo with chopped green corn his son Mike feeds Hogs daily after school for a 4AGE Club project there are no chickens to feed or cows to milk on this Farm almost no fruits or vegetables are raised here either Mrs milky and Mary shop in town for most of the family's [Music] Food Town people earn a living in part by providing goods and services to Farmers the schools and churches in these towns serve Farm families too highways and railroads connect these towns with manufacturing cities here the produce of the cornbelt Farms is bought processed and sold major Stockyards are found in the larger cities located in and near the cornbelt here cattle Hogs and sheep are bought and sold packing houses adjacent to the stockyard by the animals and process them into meat fat hides and fertilizer in the cities we find factories that process corn into starch cereals alcohol oil and syrup factories that process soybeans into oil for human foods paints and Plastics factories that make feed for livestock and po from corn soybeans oats wheat and other materials factories that make the machines that are used on farms the corn Bel produces more farm equipment grain and other products than its people can use therefore a large part of its products are sold to people in other parts of the United States and in other countries all this trade means jobs for people who transport Goods it means that corn Bel farmers have more money to buy products that other people have to sell it means that they have more money for improvements such as additional drainage that will increase production money for protecting crops such as the purchase of corn drying equipment increased production industry and trade can mean a Better Living not only for corn Bel Farmers but for people who live live in towns and cities everywhere we all have an important interest in the corn Bel