January 7, 2009
Higher corn production costs to boost US soy planting
Many producers in the Midwest may plant more soy this year instead of corn due to higher corn production costs.
Due to record high prices for soy and flooding that delayed planting in 2008, farmers planted 17 percent more acres of soy last year and while corn is the higher yielding crop, input costs are substantially higher.
Some of the acreage battle has already been fought as some farmers chose to save acres for spring crops by not planting winter wheat this fall.
According to a survey, farmers appear ready to reduce corn acreage by 1 percent to 85.1 million acres while increasing soy acreage to 80.1 million acres, an increase of 5 percent.
The crop-mix for 2009 remains somewhat uncertain as many farmers are waiting as long as possible before making their planting decisions.
