Here grows a field of young corn in the heart of Georgia near the small town of Leslie in Sumter County. Based on 2008 numbers, Southern farmers this year are expected to grow more than 5 million acres of corn, including more than 310,000 acres in Georgia. [Learn more about Georgia’s corn crop.]
But that amount for the 11-state region pales in comparison to the corn grown in just one state — more than 12 million acres in 2008 in Iowa, and about the same amount in Illinois. [More.] This year, farmers across the country have planted more corn than anytime since 1936 — some 97 million acres — to take advantage of high prices due to last year’s drought, according to USA Today.
Photo by the Center for a Better South’s Andy Brack on May 15, 2013. All rights reserved.