Despite Soy Rally, U.S. Farmers Aiming For Massive Corn Acreage

As prices for both corn and soybeans reach their highest points in years, analysts say they expect U.S. farmers to plant record acreage.

Even though soybeans have gained 45 percent and corn gained 24.7 percent over the same 11-month time period, farmers are increasingly looking toward corn in the run-up to planting. Farmers cite reasons such as the importance of crop rotations to maintain soil health, strong export demand, and an improved outlook for corn-based biofuels. One South Dakota farmer, DuWayne Bosse, told Reuters that soybeans would have to jump by another 9 percent to $13.25 per bushel to warrant distancing from corn.

A recent poll conducted by Reuters found that farmers planned to seed 93.208 million acres of corn and 89.996 million acres of soybeans this season. This favoring of corn may indeed erode soybean stocks, which are expected to drop to their lowest in seven years, with a record-low nine-and-a-half days of supplies forecast to be left in bins by harvest time.

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