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Economist doesn’t think incentive is there to switch corn acres to soybeans next year
An extension grain market economist does not anticipate a big shift from corn to soybeans next year.
Ed Usset with the University of Minnesota tells Brownfield farmers are putting pencil to paper with fertilizer prices at record highs.
“You’ve got December ’22 corn futures at five and-a-half dollars. And I know input costs are up, but I think corn is still a profitable go with prices at that level.”
USDA’s latest estimate for 2022 pulls U.S. corn down slightly from this year at 92 million acres. Soybeans are seen at 87.5 million, compared to 87.2 million in 2021.
He says nearly every year there’s speculation about dramatic changes to acreage.
“But the fact is I think your average Corn Belt producer has a rotation (and) it takes a very, very strong incentive to bump them out of that rotation.”
And Usset says despite the prohibitive cost of fertilizer, he’s not sure the incentive to plant soybeans is there.
