Corn Belt
Topic: Primary Activities: Gathering, Pastoralism, Agriculture and Mining · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Corn Belt is a farming region in the Midwest of the USA. It is centred on Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Nebraska. Farmers grow maize (corn) and soybeans on fertile prairie soils. Most of the crop is used as feed for hogs (pigs) and cattle, so crops and livestock are tied together, as in mixed farming. The region makes the USA the largest maize producer in the world (verify current).
Example
Iowa, in the heart of the US Midwest, is covered by maize and soybean fields, with hog farms that use the feed grown nearby.
Don't confuse with
- Extensive commercial grain cultivation of the Prairies: the Prairies grow mainly wheat on huge farms in drier interior grasslands. The Corn Belt grows maize and soybeans, largely to feed livestock.