The U.S. Department of Agriculture released its annual Prospective Plantings report on March 31. The report indicates that corn acreage will be down 1 percent in comparison to 2008 while soybean acreage will slightly increase.
Minnesota growers are estimated to plant 7.6 million acres of corn in 2009, down from 7.7 million. Iowa growers will plant 13.2 million, down from 13.3 million.
Overall it will be the third largest year of corn acreage across the country. The plan is 85 million acres of corn for all purposes, and only in 1949, 2007 and 2008 did farmers plant more than that.
The decrease comes after the demand for ethanol and livestock industries has lessened and there is less need for corn to export overseas.
The lack of exports is blamed on the falling value of the dollar. The National Corn Growers Association wants to find ways to increase demand through ethanol and the livestock industries.
Although corn production is expected to be down, soybean production will increase. In Iowa 9.85 million acres of soybeans will be planted when only 9.75 million were planted last year. Minnesotan producers will produce less soybeans then last year, only 7.0 million acres in 2009. Overall soybean production is expected to hit 81 million acres, slightly more than last year.
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