CHICAGO: A 45% rally in soyabean prices in 11 months was not enough to convince South Dakota farmer DuWayne Bosse to give up any corn acreage on his farm this spring.
“For our farm, we are looking at maxing out corn acres,” said Bosse, who added that soyabean futures for the next crop would have to rally another 9% to $13.25 a bushel to make switching up his seeding plans worthwhile.
“The price has to move pretty drastically for us to unhook the corn planters,” he said. Even though soyabean prices have risen more than corn, which gained 24.7% in the same 11 months, farmers are increasingly opting for the yellow grain in the weeks before planting. Their reasoning includes the importance of crop rotations to maintain long-term soil health, strong export demand and an improved outlook for corn-based biofuel.
Analysts expect farmers to plant record combined soya and corn acreage in a closely watched crop cycle as prices for their top two cash crops are the highest in years. Some have increased their corn acreage estimates and cut forecasts for soyabean acres ahead of the government’s first planting forecast based on farmer surveys.
A Reuters poll forecasts the Wednesday report would show that farmers planned to seed 93.208 million acres (37.72 million hectares) of corn and 89.996 million acres (36.42 million hectares) of soyabeans.
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