Large portions of the Midwest are called the Corn Belt and for good reason. Overall, about 90 million acres or 140,000 square miles of the United States are planted with corn and about half of that is in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Minnesota. In most of the Corn Belt, the corn is planted in rotation with soybeans. Both are warm weather crops and the soil is left barren for nearly half of the year when the two crops are out of season.
