The Prospective Plantings report released by USDA last month gave traders much to consider. Among the factors is just where additional crop acres for corn might be located. Todd Gleason reports while there are more acres, these acres are pretty much in the same places as usual.
The Prospective Plantings report released by USDA last month gave traders much to consider. Among the factors is just where additional crop acres for corn might be located. Todd Gleason reports while there are more acres, these acres are pretty much in the same places as usual.
“The reason location makes a difference is not all acres are equally productive, the location has a direct impact on how many total bushels of corn are produced each season.
Over the last decade extension farm specialist Gary Snuki says US farmers have increased the number of acres planted to corn, but really those acres haven’t come in fringe or low productivity areas. ‘What we have seen over the past decade is an increase in corn acres. Since the beginning of the 2000 decade till 2012 corn acres have increased by about 20% in the US. If you look at each state’s share of total planted acres it really hasn’t changed. The top six ranked states in terms of corn plantings have remained unchanged over the past twelve years.’
The top six producing corn states in order are Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana and South Dakota. They have all increased the number of corn acres planted, but by percentage they all still rank the same. For example in 2000 Iowa farmers planted 25% of the nation’s acres. They are expected to plant the same percentage this year, but many more acres. It says that corn is being planted on the best corn producing land.
‘What we are seeing as we increase that percentage is that we are getting more intense on those corn acres. For example in Illinois, instead of it being a corn-soybean rotation, we are moving more to a corn-corn-soybean rotation. We are seeing more intense corn plantings on good corn producing acres.’”
|