Grazing Takeaways
Grazing Takeaways Takeaways are key points detailed and referenced in the Grazing Numbers & Resource Use section Grazing Numbers About 35% of the contiguous U.S. (~670 million acres) is used for grazing as the primary use. About 60% of total land in the 10 states of the Mountain and Southern Plains regions is primarily used […]
Total Feed Crops Share
What share of all crops harvested in the U.S. are used for animal feed? About 58% of all U.S. crops harvested goes specifically to animal feed. Of this share we estimate that: About 56% comes from quantifiable shares of the top 10 U.S. crops.(See next question) About 2% or more comes from other, less easily […]
Share of Secondary Crops for Feed
How do secondary crops used for feed rank by acreage? USDA NASS (June 2026) Acreage, ISSN: 1949-1522, p. 32. For Animal Feed Usage, sources are noted below with calculations relying primarily on USDA data. Figures are based on percent of “disappearance” – the utilization of a crop or product, e.g., food, industrial use, […]
Share of Hay and Wheat for Feed
How do hay and wheat rank among the nation’s crops? Hay/alfalfa and wheat are the 3rd and 4th largest crops by acreage.[1,2] USDA NASS (2026) Acreage, ISSN 1949-1522, p. 32. [The USDA reports only harvested acres for hay/alfalfa.] For Animal Feed Usage, sources are noted throughout these pages with calculations relying primarily on USDA […]
Share of Soybean Crop for Feed
What share of soybean production is used for animal feed? Averaging 2022-2025, about 75% of U.S. soybean production by weight goes to animal feed. Using the relative value of coproducts, ~58% of soybean usage went to animal feed as an average in the same period. Our tallies (used throughout the site) of total share of crops […]
Share of Corn Crop for Feed
What is the share of U.S. corn production that goes to animal feed? As an average, about 65% of corn production goes to animal feed. This is a 4-year average from 2022-2025. For years, the USDA has estimated that ~40% of “total domestic corn use” goes to animal feed.[1] This figure is often picked up […]
Feed Crop Usage Overview
What are feed crops? Feed crops are those crops which are primarily grown to feed farmed animals. Most feed crops, especially the enormous use of corn and soybeans for feed, are a creation of factory farming. Instead of animals foraging for natural foods or given foods that humans consider waste products, feed crops are cultivated, […]
Feed Crop Takeaways
Feed Crop Takeaways Takeaways are key points detailed and referenced in the Feed Crop Figures & Conversion section Feed Crop Figures The amount of crop production and land usage devoted to feeding farmed animals is much larger than commonly understood. Feed crop production for factory farming is the central output of U.S. croplands. It is […]
Infographic – Feed Crops Share
This infographic offers key figures on the shares of the three largest U.S. crops to animal feed along with the harvested cropland they use. To download, click here