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U.S. Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

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U.S. Corn Productivity and Land Use

1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Acres Harvested (millions) 30.017 32.116 35.116 35.833 38.388 42.002 43.584 44.084 47.64 52.446 55.277 58.799 59.659 62.229 62.545 63.026 66.157 68.168 68.834 71.854 73.911 73.296 77.474 77.656 74.785 78.855 76.914 79.832 80.069 90.479 89.074 89.965 87.784 94.591 94.852 94.422 97.177 93.555 95.228 95.746 95.624 96.094 95.285 100.2 102.267 101.393 101.451 100.206 97.796 100.623 100.561 110.893 102.195 87.487 90.149 91.939 84.858 87.493 84.119 86.825 83.275 83.915 85.832 83.194 85.525 91.131 97.213 92.13 61.245 82.551 67.833 81.222 82.788 78.307 76.443 77.404 79.213 81.906 85.002 77.928 78.41 73.802 76.84 77.106 72.398 71.191 71.353 70.738 68.668 68.462 64.877 63.065 63.549 72.091 71.422 57.634 55.726 59.227 55.369 55.392 57.002 60.694 55.98 54.574 57.358 64.123 57.513 62.143 65.405 67.625 71.506 71.614 71.93 72.4 72.961 74.524 72.719 51.479 71.897 75.209 68.907 59.505 58.25 64.783 66.952 68.822 72.077 62.933 72.514 65.21 72.644 72.671 72.589 70.487 72.44 68.768 69.33 70.944 73.631 75.117 70.638 86.52 78.64 79.294 81.446 83.981
Yield (bushels per acre) 24.3 24.7 26.2 21.8 29.3 27.2 29.4 22.9 22.2 27.7 26.7 25.8 26.2 28.2 27.3 19.8 26.5 24.2 28.3 28.6 24.1 21.9 29.1 29.5 22.1 29.6 24.7 23.8 20.2 28 30 25.4 26.8 28 28.1 18.2 28.5 26.9 28.2 30.9 31.7 27.2 26.9 26.1 27.9 24.4 29.1 22.7 25.8 28.1 24.1 26.2 23.9 26.8 29.9 27.8 26.3 27.8 22.1 27.4 25.7 26.4 26.3 25.7 20.5 24.5 26.5 22.8 18.7 24.2 18.6 28.9 27.8 29.9 28.9 31.2 35.4 32.6 33 33.1 37.2 28.6 43 38.2 38.2 36.9 41.8 40.7 39.4 42 47.4 48.3 52.8 53.1 54.7 62.4 64.7 67.9 62.9 74.1 73.1 80.1 79.5 85.9 72.4 88.1 97 91.3 71.9 86.4 88 90.8 101 109.5 91 108.9 113.2 81.1 106.7 118 119.4 119.8 84.6 116.3 118.5 108.6 131.5 100.7 138.6 113.5 127.1 126.7 134.4 133.8 136.9 138.2 129.3 142.2 160.3 147.9 149.1 150.7 153.9 164.2 152.8 147.2
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service database query.
This chart shows average corn yield per acre and total harvested acres of corn in the United States between 1867 and 2011. In the 1920s, modern agricultural advances began to push corn yields upward, increasing the number of bushels produced on each acre of land. This has allowed total cultivated acreage decline or stabilize, even as population has increased. Ethanol production has brought many of these acres back into agricultural production in recent years, but because land is much more productive now, there are still many fewer acres harvested than at the turn of the last century.