Creating a Dynamic Regional Model of the U.S. Corn Belt

The U.S. Department of Agriculture last delineated the regional boundary of the Corn Belt in 1950. Mixed-grain and livestock farming practices have today transitioned to annually rotating corn and soybeans, which has altered the geographic bounds of this region. To illustrate the changing geography of the Corn Belt, ArcGIS geoprocessing and spatial analysis tools, along with a simple, summative assessment using Census of Agriculture data, were used to map how the region's boundary has changed as myriad internal and external driving forces influence where farmers grow corn. Since 1950 the region's core has remained spatially stable as corn production has intensified, while the region's periphery has shifted to the northwest. The methods used to create this contemporary Corn Belt region illustrate how a regional boundary and internal regional intensities can be used to map agricultural land use change.