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A little over 1/3 of the US corn crop is used to make alcohol to add to gas. It's likely that it costs as much or more oil to grow that corn thhan the alcohol replaceed. So the laws requiring alcohol in gas are just a boondoggle supporting mega corn farmers.
About 1/3 of the US corn crop is used as animal feed.Just stating a fact, not disapproving. I figure if God did not want us to eat cattle, sheep, hogs, chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, milk and eggs he wouldn't have made them so delicious. He didn't make banana slugs delicious, so I don't eat those. And cooking them doesn't help, either.
We grow very little dry grain corn commercially in Oregon. West of the cascades it isn't grown because there is heavy dew on plants in morning, preventing the corn from drying down fully in the field well enough so kernels come off the cobs without artificial drying. This means the corn cannot be combined. Once combines were invented Willamette Valley ceased producing dry corn except small plots where ears are picked, then dried indoors, then combined. Much more expensive and laborious than just running a combine through the crops that picks and shells corn in one pass. The major plantings of commercial corn in Willamette Valley are for silage for feeding animals. Corn in E Oregon can't compete with Corn Belt corn, which doesn't need to be irrigated.
Oregon also isn't a great place to grow soybeans. So while we are pretty independent on fruits and vegetables and hazelnuts, hops, and peppermint oil, and raise some meat...but with the exception of the small grass-fed meat market, even our meat is largely raised on corn and soybeans from the corn belt. We will be as much affected as anyone by lower crops in the corn belt.
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