Cancer Rates Rising Alarmingly in America’s Corn Belt While Declining Elsewhere

A troubling health pattern has emerged in America’s agricultural heartland. While cancer rates across most of the United States are falling, six states known as the Corn Belt—Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, and Kansas—are experiencing an alarming increase in cancer diagnoses, according to recent federal health data.

This concerning trend has prompted the University of Iowa’s Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center to assemble a panel of experts to investigate the underlying causes. Dr. Marian Neuhouser, a nutrition and obesity expert from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, was among the specialists called to examine the issue.

“The panel came about after they noticed that the trends for cancer incidence were increasing at a faster rate in Iowa than in other states,” Neuhouser told Fox News Digital.

An analysis by The Washington Post, based on data from the National Cancer Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, revealed that cancer rates in the Midwest were comparable to the national average in 1999. However, the situation has changed dramatically over the past two decades, particularly among residents aged 15 to 49, whose cancer rates now exceed the national average by about 5 percent. This divergence began in the 2000s and has steadily widened.

The Post’s analysis tracked cancer incidence from 1999 through 2022, using multi-year averages for Iowa and excluding 2020 data due to pandemic-related disruptions in healthcare services.

Environmental Factors Under Scrutiny

Researchers are examining both environmental and lifestyle factors that could be driving the increase. Notably, Iowa’s Environmental Health Sciences Research Center has described the state as a “hot spot for environmental exposures to carcinogenic agents.”

Soil and groundwater in the region contain some of the nation’s highest levels of natural radon and nitrate, largely attributed to extensive fertilizer use in farming. Both substances have been linked to elevated risks of lung and gastrointestinal cancers.

The widespread application of agricultural chemicals, particularly pesticides and herbicides like glyphosate, has become a focal point of investigation. Dr. Anne McTiernan, professor of epidemiology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, has extensively studied the relationship between glyphosate and cancer risk.

“Glyphosate, a broad-spectrum herbicide, has been used in the U.S. for decades and is reported to be the most widely used pesticide globally,” McTiernan explained. The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified glyphosate as “probably carcinogenic to humans,” its second-highest carcinogen designation.

Her comprehensive review of studies through 2025 found that individuals with long-term, high exposure to glyphosate—such as agricultural workers—faced approximately 40% higher risk of developing non-Hodgkin lymphoma compared to those without exposure. The combination of this increased risk and laboratory evidence showing glyphosate can damage DNA and cause cellular stress provides strong support for a causal relationship, according to McTiernan.

Lifestyle Factors Compound the Problem

Environmental exposures tell only part of the story. Lifestyle factors prevalent in the region also contribute significantly to cancer risk.

According to CDC data, approximately 21% of Iowa adults report heavy drinking or binge drinking, compared to roughly 17% nationally. Excessive alcohol consumption is a known risk factor for several types of cancer, including those of the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, and breast.

Obesity presents another major concern. The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services reports that about 35% of adults in the state are classified as obese, placing it among 19 states with obesity prevalence at or above that level. Nationwide, the CDC reports an adult obesity rate of roughly 40%.

“Everyone would like to be able to narrow down cancer risk to one exposure, but cancer is so complex that it’s usually several factors working together,” Neuhouser noted, adding that 13 separate types of cancer are linked to obesity.

Additional factors possibly contributing to the regional cancer disparity include heightened outdoor UV exposure, which increases skin cancer risk, particularly among agricultural workers who spend extended periods in direct sunlight.

The findings highlight the complex interplay of agricultural practices, environmental exposures, and lifestyle factors that may be driving cancer rates upward in America’s agricultural heartland, even as improved prevention, screening, and treatment are reducing cancer incidence elsewhere in the country.