Reviewed September 2026 against USDA NASS Crop Production reports and FAO/CIMMYT wheat data.

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Iowa, Illinois, and Nebraska are the top three US corn-producing states, together accounting for well over half of national output. In 2024, the United States harvested 82.9 million acres of corn for grain, producing 14.9 billion bushels at a national average yield of 179.3 bushels per acre, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Separately, China’s wheat production reached 136.6 million tonnes in 2023 per FAO and USDA data compiled by CIMMYT — a figure that matters to US growers because China is both a major wheat producer and importer, and its supply swings move global grain markets.

This page covers both stories: the state-by-state breakdown of US corn production, and what China’s wheat output means for global grain balances. Each section below names its source and the exact reporting period, with a link to where USDA and FAO publish the next update.

On This Page

• US Corn Production by State: 2024 Rankings
• US Corn Yield Trend, 2019–2024
• How USDA NASS Reports Corn Data — And How to Get the Current Numbers
• China Wheat Production and Why US Growers Track It
• Arkansas Farm Safety Guidance: What Actually Exists
• Yield Gap Calculator: Your Farm vs. the State and National Average
• Tracking Corn Conditions Between USDA Reports
• FAQ

US Corn Production by State: 2024 Rankings

USDA NASS publishes final-year corn production by state each January in its Crop Production annual summary. For the 2024 crop year, the national total was 14.9 billion bushels harvested from 82.9 million acres, at an average yield of 179.3 bushels per acre — all three figures from the NASS release dated January 10, 2025.

Below are the confirmed top three states, with 2024 production volumes reported in NASS’s state-level supplement:

Iowa’s 2.6 billion bushels and Illinois’s 2.3 billion bushels together represent roughly a third of the 14.9-billion-bushel national total. Nebraska’s 1.8 billion bushels came in at a yield of 188 bushels per acre — above the 179.3 bu/acre national average — per the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s CropWatch annual crop production summary, which draws on the same NASS survey data.

The brief used for this article does not include confirmed 2024 production or yield figures for Minnesota, Indiana, South Dakota, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, or North Dakota — all of which typically rank in the top ten. Rather than estimate those, use USDA NASS’s own lookup tool: NASS’s Crop Production state-level report (PDF) lists every state’s corn acreage, yield, and production for the most recent final crop year, and NASS’s Quick Stats database lets you pull the same figures by state and year without waiting for the next PDF release.

Corn State: What the Search Term Actually Means

When people search “corn state,” they’re usually asking one of two things: which state grows the most corn (Iowa, by production volume, per NASS’s 2024 data above), or which state is nicknamed “the Corn State.” Nebraska carries that nickname on some older state emblems and license plates, but by 2024 production volume Nebraska ranks third nationally, behind Iowa and Illinois. If your question is about total bushels produced, Iowa is the answer; if it’s about the historical nickname, that’s Nebraska.

US Corn Yield Trend, 2019–2024

National average corn yield has climbed unevenly over the past several NASS reporting cycles. Here is what the brief confirms, year by year:

The jump from 168.0 bushels per acre in 2019 to 194.0 in 2021 — a 26-bushel gain in two seasons — reflects favorable growing-season weather across the Corn Belt in 2021 combined with continued hybrid genetics improvement. The pullback to 179.3 bushels per acre by 2024 sits between those two extremes rather than continuing the 2021 trajectory, which is a reminder that a single strong year doesn’t reset the baseline. The brief does not include confirmed figures for 2022 or 2023, so if you need an unbroken year-over-year series, pull it directly from NASS Quick Stats rather than interpolating between the years shown here.

This is the query behind “usda nass corn production by state 2019 2020 2021” — searchers want exactly this kind of multi-year, state-and-national table rather than a single year’s snapshot. The full state-by-state breakdown for each of those three years is published in NASS’s annual Crop Production summaries; the 2019 and 2020/2021 PDFs are linked from the yield figures in the table above and carry the complete state list, not just the national average shown here.

How USDA NASS Reports Corn Data — And How to Get the Current Numbers

Every figure in this article traces back to one reporting cycle: USDA NASS’s Crop Production series. Understanding that cycle is the durable part of this page — it doesn’t expire when the numbers do.

• Monthly in-season reports (May–November) give forecasted acreage, yield, and production based on farmer surveys and field observations.
• The January final report (referenced throughout this article as the Jan 10, 2025 release for the 2024 crop year) locks in the year’s actual acreage, yield, and production — this is the number analysts treat as authoritative.
• State-level detail is published in a companion report, typically a few weeks after the national release — the source for the Iowa, Illinois, and Nebraska figures above.

To get the current year’s numbers once they’re published, go to USDA NASS Newsroom and search “Crop Production” — the release schedule is public and posted in advance. For historical or state-specific queries, NASS Quick Stats (linked from the same Newsroom page) lets you filter by state, year, and crop without waiting for a new PDF.

By integrating advanced large-scale farm management tools and fleet management solutions, operations in states like Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois can track field-level conditions between NASS’s official releases rather than waiting for the next monthly or annual report.

China Wheat Production and Why US Growers Track It

China produced 136.6 million tonnes of wheat in 2023, according to FAO and USDA data compiled by CIMMYT (the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center). That single figure makes China the world’s largest wheat producer by volume — ahead of the European Union and India — and its harvest outcome each year affects how much wheat China needs to import, which in turn moves global wheat prices that US wheat exporters sell into.

The brief for this article does not include a 2024 or later production figure, nor a per-tonne price for Chinese wheat. Rather than estimate either, the reliable path is FAO’s Cereal Supply and Demand Brief, which updates monthly and tracks wheat production, consumption, and stocks for major producers including China, alongside the US, EU, and India.

CIMMYT’s analysis frames the stakes plainly: China’s own wheat harvest is “critical to global food security” because a shortfall large enough to push China into heavier import demand would tighten world wheat supply at a time when the US, EU, and Black Sea region are the main alternative suppliers. Full context on that dynamic is in the CIMMYT article on China’s wheat production.

For US grain marketers, the practical takeaway is to treat China’s wheat harvest as one input into export demand forecasting rather than a number to memorize once. FAO’s brief is the place to check it every month; USDA’s own NASS Newsroom Crop Production release also carries US wheat figures that pair with it for comparison.

Arkansas Farm Safety Guidance: What Actually Exists

Searches for a “safe farming for Arkansas” circular point to farm safety guidance rather than a single named document. There is no one circular titled that way in the sources available for this article — Arkansas farm safety requirements are spread across a few separate programs, and naming them plainly is more useful than pointing to a document that may not match what a searcher expects:

• Produce safety rules for farms growing fruits and vegetables fall under the FDA’s Produce Safety Rule, implemented via FSMA (the Food Safety Modernization Act) and administered in coordination with state agriculture departments.
• Pesticide applicator licensing in Arkansas is handled by the Arkansas State Plant Board, which sets certification and training requirements for anyone applying restricted-use pesticides.
• General farm safety training — equipment, grain bin entry, chemical handling — is typically delivered through the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, which publishes region-specific guidance and runs training sessions for producers.

If you’re looking for a specific circular by that name, the most direct path is to contact the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service directly or search their publication library — the document may be a specific Extension circular not indexed in the general sources checked here. Extension offices are typically the fastest way to confirm whether a specific safety bulletin currently exists and get the current version.

Yield Gap Calculator: Your Farm vs. the State and National Average

Use your own harvested acres and yield to see how you compare against the 2024 national average (179.3 bu/acre) or against Iowa, Illinois, or Nebraska’s reported state-level results above.

Tracking Corn Conditions Between USDA Reports

NASS’s monthly and annual reports describe what already happened in the field. For decisions that need to happen before the next report — irrigation timing, input allocation, insurance documentation — satellite-based field monitoring fills the gap between official releases.

• Satellite Imagery & Crop Health Monitoring: Multispectral imagery for real-time crop growth evaluation and NDVI-based stress detection.
• Jeevn AI Advisory: Field-level recommendations on irrigation and input timing, drawn from satellite and sensor data rather than a regional average.
• Blockchain-Based Traceability: End-to-end verification for corn and wheat supply chains — see Farmonaut Product Traceability.
• Carbon and Environmental Tracking: Documentation for sustainability compliance and conservation program reporting — see carbon footprinting tools.

The Farmonaut API and Developer Docs let operations embed the same satellite weather and field-condition data into their own management systems, rather than checking a dashboard manually each week.

Satellite-based field verification also supports financing: Farmonaut’s crop loan and insurance solutions use the same imagery to help lenders and insurers confirm field conditions without an in-person visit for every claim.

Fleet, Logistics, and Farm-Scale Management

For operations running at the scale of the top corn-producing states — Iowa’s 2.6-billion-bushel harvest doesn’t move itself — large-scale farm management apps and fleet management tools coordinate equipment, storage, and transport from planting through delivery.

Get started — download the Android App, the iOS App, or use the web app directly.

Farmonaut Subscription Packages

FAQ

• Q: Which state produces the most corn in the US?
  A: Iowa, with 2.6 billion bushels in the 2024 crop year, per USDA NASS’s state-level Crop Production report. Illinois ranked second at 2.3 billion bushels and Nebraska third at 1.8 billion bushels.
• Q: What was the US corn yield in 2024?
  A: 179.3 bushels per acre nationally, from 82.9 million harvested acres, producing 14.9 billion bushels total — USDA NASS, January 10, 2025 release.
• Q: How did corn yield change between 2019 and 2021?
  A: US average yield rose from 168.0 bushels per acre in 2019 to 172.0 in 2020 and 194.0 in 2021, per USDA NASS annual Crop Production summaries. It settled at 179.3 bu/acre for the 2024 crop year.
• Q: How much wheat does China produce?
  A: 136.6 million tonnes in 2023, according to FAO and USDA data compiled by CIMMYT — making China the world’s largest wheat producer by volume.
• Q: Where can I find the current year’s corn production by state?
  A: USDA NASS Newsroom publishes the annual Crop Production report each January with final state-level figures; NASS Quick Stats lets you query any state and year directly without waiting for the next PDF.
• Q: Is there an official “safe farming for Arkansas” circular?
  A: No single document by that exact name was confirmed in the sources checked for this article. Arkansas farm safety guidance is split across the FDA Produce Safety Rule (FSMA), Arkansas State Plant Board pesticide licensing, and University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service training materials — contact Extension directly to confirm if a specific circular exists.

Where This Leaves You

Iowa, Illinois, and Nebraska will keep leading US corn production for the foreseeable future — that ranking has held across recent NASS reporting cycles — but the exact bushel counts and yields shift every year and are worth re-checking at the source rather than relying on a saved figure. The durable method here is the same regardless of the year: go to USDA NASS’s Newsroom each January for the final Crop Production report, cross-check state detail in the companion state-level release, and use Quick Stats for any historical or multi-state comparison. For China wheat, FAO’s Cereal Supply and Demand Brief updates monthly and is the fastest way to see whether the 136.6-million-tonne 2023 figure has moved.

For farm-level decisions that can’t wait for the next USDA release, satellite monitoring bridges the gap between official reports.

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Related Reading & Tools

• Farmonaut Satellite Weather API — Connect real-time field data to your own systems.
• Farmonaut Product Traceability — Supply chain transparency for corn and wheat.
• Crop Loan & Insurance Solution — Farm finance and risk management support.
• Admin App for Large-Scale Farm Management — Operations at scale, field to storage.