Stats Can: Corn for grain: the world’s top cereal crop

Stats Can: Corn: Canada's third most valuable crop

By Marie-Andrée Hamel and Erik Dorff 2014-03-18

Corn for grain: the world’s top cereal crop

When it comes to cereal crop production around the world, corn is king. This may come as a surprise to many. Anyone who has ever seen the endless seas of golden wheat on the Canadian Prairies might think that this lynchpin of Canadian agriculture is the number one cereal crop.

The same might be thought of rice and the landscape of paddies stretching as far as the eye can see across Asia. But instead, the most produced cereal crop worldwide is actually corn (also known as maize), a cereal native to the Americas. It outstrips both rice and wheat in terms of global production (Table 1).

Table 1
World and Canadian production of major grains and oilseeds, 2011
Table summary
This table displays the results of World and Canadian production of major grains and oilseeds. The information is grouped by Commodity (appearing as row headers), World, Canada, Share of total and World position, calculated using Metric tonnes, Percent and Rank units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Commodity	World	Canada	Share of total	World position
Commodity	metric tonnes		percent	rank
Maize	885,289,935	10,688,700	1.2	11
Rice, paddy	722,559,584	...	...	...
Wheat	701,395,334	25,261,400	3.6	7
Soybeans	262,037,569	4,246,300	1.6	7
Barley	133,049,075	7,755,700	5.8	7
Canola	62,546,641	14,164,500	22.6	1
Sorghum	58,583,460	...	...	...
Millet	27,226,548	...	...	...
Oats	22,676,189	2,997,100	13.2	2
Rye	13,162,017	194,700	1.5	10
... not applicable Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Maize or corn for grain^Note1 is the number one cereal crop worldwide with 885.3 million tonnes produced in 2011 according to the FAO^Note2. The top producer was the United States with 313.9 million tonnes or 35.5% of global production. The U.S. was followed by China which produced 192.8 million tonnes (21.8% of world production). Canada placed 11th in world production of corn with 10.7 million tonnes of grain corn produced in 2011 (Table 2).

Table 2
Top grain corn producing nations, 2011
Table summary
This table displays the results of Top grain corn producing nations. The information is grouped by Rank (appearing as row headers), Country, Production and Share of world production, calculated using Metric tonnes and Percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Rank	Country	Production	Share of world production
Rank	Country	metric tonnes	percent
	World	885,289,935	100.0
1	United States of America	313,948,610	35.5
2	China, mainland	192,781,000	21.8
3	Brazil	55,660,415	6.3
4	Argentina	23,799,830	2.7
5	Ukraine	22,837,900	2.6
6	India	21,760,000	2.5
7	Mexico	17,635,417	2.0
8	Indonesia	17,629,033	2.0
9	France	15,913,300	1.8
10	Romania	11,717,591	1.3
11	Canada	10,688,700	1.2
12	South Africa	10,360,000	1.2
13	Italy	9,752,592	1.1
14	Nigeria	9,180,270	1.0
15	Hungary	7,992,000	0.9
16	Philippines	6,971,221	0.8
17	Russian Federation	6,962,440	0.8
18	Egypt	6,876,473	0.8
19	Serbia	6,479,564	0.7
20	Ethiopia	6,069,413	0.7
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, data accessed February 13, 2014.

In Canada, over 32,300 farms reported planting 1.63 million hectares of corn (corn for grain, corn for silage and sweet corn) according to the 2011 Census of Agriculture. The value of farm cash receipts for grain corn alone reached $2.08 billion in 2011, ranking it as the third most valuable crop in Canada, after canola and wheat.^Note3

Comment

You need to be a member of Ontario Agriculture to add comments!

Join Ontario Agriculture

Welcome to
Ontario Agriculture

Sign Up
or Sign In

Agriculture Headlines from Farms.com Canada East News - click on title for full story

Voting Quorum Changed to Ensure APG Meetings Continue to Move Forward with Commission Business

The Alberta Pulse Growers Commission (APG) changed its bylaws to reduce the number of members necessary to conduct an annual or special Commission meeting from 40 to 30 eligible producers. The Alberta Agricultural Products Marketing Council approved the change on February 24 following a vote by eligible APG members attending the 2025 annual general meeting in January and conversations at all five fall zone meetings. “We had great turnout at the provincial AGM in January, but sometimes it isn’t easy to get growers out to these meetings,” said APG Chair Shane Strydhorst, who farms at Neerlandia. “If we didn’t have quorum at the AGM, we wouldn’t have been able to hold a vote and would have had to reschedule. We strive for more than our quorum number when we are making decisions because we want everyone to participate.” Strydhorst added that the board agreed that the move was necessary for several reasons, including the increasing consolidation of farms. The new quorum number brings APG

Canada’s Pulse Industry Calls For Swift Resolution To The Imposition Of Chinese Tariffs

Yesterday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce announced the results of its anti-discrimination investigation into Canada for imposing a 100% tariff on EVs and an additional 25% tariff on steel and aluminum products imported from China. As a result of this investigation the State Council Tariff Commission will impose an additional 100% tariff on Canadian peas, canola oil and canola meal as well as an additional 25% tariff on Canadian pork and seafood. “China is one of Canada’s largest markets for yellow peas; a market that Canadian farmers and exporters have been serving since the mid 1990’s,” said Terry Youzwa, Chair of Pulse Canada. “The Canadian industry values this long-standing and mutually beneficial partnership. We know Chinese customers prefer Canadian peas and want to continue to deal with Canadian suppliers.” In 2024, Canada exported roughly 500,000 metric tonnes of yellow peas valued at over $306M. The 5-year average for yellow pea exports is over 1,500,000 metric tonnes valu

Grain Farmers Caught in Crossfire as U.S.-China Trade War Escalates

Tariffs threaten billions in exports, family farms at risk, Grain Growers of Canada says. Canadian grain farmers are facing a trade crisis on two fronts, with escalating tariffs from both the United States and China threatening billions in exports and putting the future of family farms at exceptional risk, Grain Growers of Canada (GGC) says. The Chinese government’s decision to impose 100 percent tariffs on Canadian canola oil, canola meal, and peas comes as trade tensions with the U.S. continue to pressure Canada’s grain sector. “With uncertainty mounting with the United States, our largest export market, the last thing grain farmers needed was a trade war with China, our second largest export market,” said Kyle Larkin, Executive Director of GGC. “Together, the U.S. and China account for over half of all Canadian grain exports — losing access or facing exorbitant tariffs in both markets at once is a threat farmers cannot afford to absorb.” GGC echo the concerns raised by the Canadi

Ag Industry Not Sheltered From US Tariffs

Just about everything that Canada exports to the US, including agricultural commodities, now have a 25 percent tariff tacked on. The exception is our energy exports,which have a 10 percent tariff attached as of early this morning. US president Donald Trump followed through a promise a month ago to punish Canada and Mexico for not taking steps at their border to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the US. In the case of Canada, many analysts say that argument was just a smoke screen for Trump to secure what he really wants from us, our resources. Trump is also hitting China with 20 percent tariffs across the board today, and many analysts say his speech tonight to congress will outline even more plans to economically attack his neighbors. China says it may put additional tariffs on many agricultural products coming from the US in retaliation. Also yesterday, the US president sent a note on X to American farmers. Trump wrote…”to the great farmers of the US….get ready to start making a

Spring planter maintenance tips

Growers need to decide what parts need replacing

More…

Badges | Report an Issue | Terms of Service