A History of Corn: Beginnings and Tall Tales of Farming Corn in America

More acres in the U.S. are planted to corn than any other crop, making "King Corn" the most valuable crop in the nation.

By Sam Moore
Updated on September 13, 2021
article image
courtesy Sam Moore
Front cover illustration from a corn harvesting machinery catalog produced in about 1903 by the Plano Division of International Harvester.

Editor’s note: This is part one of a three part series about planting, cultivating and harvesting corn, with a focus on the machinery and techniques developed for planting corn. Click here to read parts two and three.

Born in the Americas, corn fueled farms and inspired tall tales

The 2021 corn harvest is underway now. Soon the crop will be transported to bins where farmers wait hopefully for the market price to rise. In the old days, the corn harvest started in the fall and usually took most of the winter to complete.

In fact, more acres are planted in corn than any other crop, which makes “King Corn” the most valuable crop grown in the U.S., even though its price per bushel doesn’t impress the farmer who markets his harvest.

In English-speaking countries, “corn” is the most commonly used name for that country’s biggest cash crop. Thus, in England “corn” refers to wheat. In Scotland and Ireland, the term is used for oats, and in the U.S., Canada and Australia, corn is the common name of North American maize, which originated in central Mexico more than 3,000 years ago.

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