Election Cycle: A Ride Through America's Corn Country
— -- The United States is known as the "corn capital of the world," and I understood why after cycling past thousands of rows of corn growing in central Illinois.
More than 94 million acres in the U.S. is devoted to growing corn, an increase of 7 percent over last year, according to the latest report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
But, while global demand for ethanol and other corn products has increased, advances in harvesting and seeding technology have outpaced these demands, leaving many corn farmers with losses in recent years.
Corn prices have fallen to a seven-year low, and at the end of this harvest season, many farmers' corn storage bins will be full. Overall, total U.S. farm income is expected to fall to $71.5 billion in 2016, which would be down 12 percent from the previous year and would mark a third consecutive year of decline and the lowest level since 2009.
I pedaled along the historic Route 66 highway in central Illinois, then took a detour at McLean County where I stopped to meet a fourth-generation farmer named Brian Loeffler who is in the middle of corn harvest season.
Loeffler invited us to hitch a ride on his massive corn combine to see up close what the harvest looks like this year and to talk about how the nation's political landscape might impact his livelihood.
