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Corn requires about 1" of rain per week (during the growing season) to produce its best yields.
The marker for areas which can sucessfully base their Ag ops on corn (either as a cash crop, or for livestock feed) is 21" per year.
I believe that level ends in the eastern Dakotas, Nebraska, and Kansas.
Good post; if you want to grow corn in western Nebraska, you will likely have to use irrigation; if you want to grow wheat ( a more natural crop for western NE), then you won't have to use quite so much water, as wheat is not as water-dependent...
Once you get below I-70, Missouri sure doesn't look Midwestern nor feel Midwestern.
As an Easterner, I would say that, on the whole, Missouri is a Midwestern state; however, if you want to ignore state boundaries, then probably 75% ?of the state would qualify as Midwestern..
Good post; if you want to grow corn in western Nebraska, you will likely have to use irrigation; if you want to grow wheat ( a more natural crop for western NE), then you won't have to use quite so much water, as wheat is not as water-dependent...
Irrigation in most midwest states has nothing to do with rainfall amounts but has to do with soil type.
You can find irrigation in nearly every midwestern state when an area has sandy soil.
Once you leave that area ( sometimes only a mile away) the soil gets heavy and irrigation is not needed.
Same rainfall in both areas.
OK, the soil types make a lot of sense with regard to whether the crops are irrigated or not. However, I still believe that my statment is correct that pretty much no corn can be grown in the western parts of Nebraska, Kansas, the Dakotas without irrigation given typical rainfall amounts common to the area. The further south you go in latitude (like Kansas) the more intense the evapotransipration is. Therefore, you need even more rainfall during the growing season than you would up in the northern plains.
Once you get below I-70, Missouri sure doesn't look Midwestern nor feel Midwestern.
You should go to the Kansas forum. Most think that southeast Kansas (just west of Joplin) is the Midwest based primarily on historical facts of Kansas being a free state and Missouri being the opposite. However, the ignore the fact that migration patterns change over time as well. Southeast Kansas and southwest Missouri are at a lower latitude compared to the ohio river valley. Therefore, they are south of the Mason Dixon line as well.
I agree that Missouri south of I-70 is definitely NOT part of the Midwest core due to a multitude of factors that include: mixed use landscape, much less in the way of crops, far lower educational attainment levels, and systemic levels of rural poverty not found at all in the Midwest core.
OK, the soil types make a lot of sense with regard to whether the crops are irrigated or not. However, I still believe that my statment is correct that pretty much no corn can be grown in the western parts of Nebraska, Kansas, the Dakotas without irrigation given typical rainfall amounts common to the area. The further south you go in latitude (like Kansas) the more intense the evapotransipration is. Therefore, you need even more rainfall during the growing season than you would up in the northern plains.
I agree.
As you get west of middle Dakotas growing corn w/o irrigation is gonna be nearly impossible due to rainfall.
I was referring mainly to MN,Iowa,WI,Illinois, and Indiana in my comments about soil type determing the necessity of irrigation.
The last town heading down hwy 63 in Missouri that resembled an agriculture based ,nice, modern, midwestern town was Marshall MO.
Yup, located 12 miles north of I-70.
And when did you last do an extensive tour of the entire state of Missouri south of 70?
Oh, thats right, on your last pleasure trip to Branson.
Cuz, you know, the entire southern half of the state looks just like Branson.
It was you who stated the only part of MO that isn't midwestern is the SE boot hill.
Many /most areas of MO below I-70 doesn't resemble the midwest agriculturally wise ( especially SW MO )
As I already stated.
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