Corn

Corn, or maize (Zea mays), grain crop cultivated in the Americas long before the arrival of Europeans and now grown extensively throughout the world. About 60% of world production is in the United States, mainly in the Corn Belt of the Midwest where the annual rainfall is more than 20 in (51 cm). It is the most important U.S. crop. Almost 90% is used for feeding livestock and the remainder for human consumption and for various industrial applications. Outside the United States, most of the crop is produced for human consumption.