April 6, 2007

Increased ethanol production spurs rise in US corn plantings

The jump in corn demand for ethanol production has kept US corn prices at high levels, which is expected to spur a 15 percent on-year rise in domestic planting of the crop for 2007, said the USDA.

According to the "Prospective Plantings" report, issued Mar 30 by the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), US corn planted area in 2007 is estimated to rise 12.1 million acres on-year to reach 90.5 million acres.

Consequently, the increased corn acreage is seen to come at the expense of planted area for other crops including soybeans, cotton, and rice.

This year, US soy planted area is expected to drop 8.3 million acres from 2006 to 67.1 million acres.