Iowa farmers to switch to soybeans
The planting changes could affect prices for food, depending on how the shift affects commodity prices, and change the economics of making ethanol and biodiesel. The price of corn for livestock feed is a major cost of producing meat and milk. Soybeans also are used for feed and as a food ingredient.
Based on an annual survey of farmers, The U.S. Agriculture Department estimated today that growers will plant 86 million acres of corn this year, down from 93.6 million acres last year.
Iowa farmers are expected to plant 13.2 million acres of corn this spring, down a million acres from last year.
Nationwide, farmers are expected to plant 74.8 million acres of soybeans, up from 63.6 million acres last year. In Iowa, 9.8 million acres of soybeans are likely to be planted, up from 8.6 million in 2007.
Farmers have been citing several reasons for planting more soybeans this year, including the rising price of the commodity and higher prices of fertilizer and other inputs needed for growing corn. There also are agronomic considerations: Planting corn on the same ground year after year depletes the soil of nutrients and leads to more insect pests.
Despite the expected shift from corn to soybeans, farmers still will be growing significantly more corn this year than they traditionally have. In 2006, farmers planted 78.3 million acres of corn and 75.5 million acres of soybeans.
The USDA report is based on a survey of 86,000 farmers.
