What Grows Best in Your Climate Zone?

December 23, 2019 | Category: Agricultural Sustainability, Blog, Soybean Farming

Climate scientists split Earth into different climate zones based on average year-round temperatures and precipitation. These zones or types of climates include: tropical, dry, temperate, continental and polar. Some scientists name these zones slightly different but the ideal crops that grow in each zone remains constant. Some of the most commonly grown crops in the United States include: corn, soybeans, wheat and cotton. In this article, we discuss where these crops are grown in higher concentrations and what other areas are popular for crops such as fruit, vegetables and nuts.

 

Growing Corn, Soybeans, Wheat and Cotton

More than 90 million acres of land is used to plant corn with most of it being used in livestock feed. Corn production is highly concentrated in the “Heartland” region of the United States (Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, eastern portions of South Dakota and Nebraska, western Kentucky and Ohio and Northern Missouri). These states are located in the temperate zone which typically has warm and humid summers with thunderstorms and mild winters. Soybeans have been a dominant oilseed crop in the United States and the highest percentage of soybeans goes to the animal feed industry. Soybeans have a similar growing region to corn as the top producers are Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and North Dakota. The demand for food products made from wheat flour has been relatively stable but has also been closely tied to changing consumer tastes and preferences. States that dominate wheat production include Kansas, North Dakota, Washington, Montana, Oklahoma, and Idaho. These states are found among temperate zones, dry zones (moisture is rapidly evaporated from the air and little precipitation) and continental zones (warm to cool summers and very cold winters). Wheat varies a lot in climate zones as there are different types of wheat that grow better in different climates. Most cotton in the US comes from southern states that is often referred to as the “Cotton Belt.” The top producers are Texas, Georgia, Mississippi, Arkansas, California and Alabama. These states are found in temperate and dry zones.

 
what climate zone are you in?

Popular Crops in Other States

The “Heartland” produces a lot of our major crops in the United States but what about the rest of our states? What are they growing? States with a high production of crops you may not expect include:

  • Alabama and Georgia – peanuts
  • Arkansas and Mississippi – rice
  • Hawaii – sugarcane
  • Massachusetts – cranberries
  • New Hampshire – apples
  • New Jersey – blueberries
  • New Mexico – pecans
  • Pennsylvania – mushrooms
  • Wyoming – beans

Other popular examples that are more expected include:

  • California – grapes
  • Florida – oranges
  • Idaho – potatoes
  • New York and Washington – apples

The United States Department of Agriculture has a great resource called the plant hardiness zone map that can help determine your climate zone.

 

Pro-Soil Helps Crops Grow in All Climate Zones

Technologically engineered to deliver advanced soil nutrition to existing soils, our natural, liquid below ground management products for crop and soil management work equally well and favorably on all varieties of agricultural crops. Pro-Soil has products such as: PS-Foundation (yield builder), PS-Starter Pro (fertilizer booster), Triple 3 Vital Boost (foliar feed), Top 3 Advanced (foliar feed), and IPS-100 (soil conditioner). Pro-Soil’s biotechnology products offer your greatest potential to achieve minimum inputs and maximum yields by enabling you to better manage the factors that drive input costs up, and those that limit production. Check out our case study on Pro-Soil’s liquid fertilizer impacting cotton production. Compared to a conventional plant fertilizer alone, treating cotton with Pro-Soil liquid fertilizer and soil activators increased yields on average of 20% to 40%.

No matter what crop you are growing, Pro-Soil is a below ground management specialist focused on improving the health of your soil and quality of crops being raised. Call us today at 1-800-714-4903 as we have dealers all over the country who can assist you.