(RALEIGH) -- Many farmers across the Midwest are abandoning ruined corn crops and salvaging what they can to feed to their animals, especially cattle. Of the 96.4 million acres of corn the U.S. Department of Agriculture says was planted in the United States this year, less than 1 percent was in North Carolina.

North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler would like to see the Tar Heel State meet more of the world demand for corn. "One of the things that I have challenged the farmers down here to do is to come up with a certified 400 bushel per acre yield of corn and we got very, very close to that a couple of years ago.  We got right up to 399 bushels, but it's kind of like gas prices, if it's $3.90 the public doesn't say much, but $4.00 on gasoline and 400 bushels on corn, that's a milestone that I want to see met," said Troxler.

Last week, the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services forecast that North Carolina corn farmers would harvest 114 bushels per acre on average. That's up 30 bushels per acre from last year and above the 10-year average.