Corn commonly is used as a feed grain in beef cattle diets throughout the U.S. However, until recently in many parts of North Dakota and other northern-tier states, feeding corn was less common. With the availability and improvement of shorter-season corn varieties, corn plantings in North Dakota increased nearly five-fold from 1995 to 2012. In 2011, 216 million bushels of corn were produced. This has resulted in more interest in using corn as a feedstuff for beef cattle.