Buying acres for spring crops
Farm and Ranch January 14, 2011 The USDA told us this week that U.S. farmers planted 41 million acres of winter wheat last fall. So that is the maximum acres farmers can harvest this year. How much spring wheat will be planted remains to be seen. And with high wheat prices, soybean ending stocks at a record low and corn carryover projected at only a 5 ½ percent stocks to use ratio, the market through price action is going to have to buy acres for various crops. Peter Georgantones of Abbot Futures in Minneapolis offered these observations about that battle. Georgantones: “Corn is still going to be planted right now over soybeans. I think you will lose a half a million acres of rice. That is not a lot but it is something. Rice acreage will move to soybeans or corn. A lot these specialty crops, I think barley, sorghum, some of these acres are going to move more into soybeans and corn. It is just going to be a real dogfight. I don‘t even know where these acres are going to come from. I don‘t even think anyone knows because the math doesn‘t add up right now as to where we are going to get all these acres. I don‘t know what they are going to do on that March 31st report. But this year you have high prices everywhere, they are going to stay high, and each of these commodities are going to have to compete against the next one for acreage. It is going to depend on weather. What if we have a wet spring? Corn is going to go crazy…on the upside.” USDA will report farmer planting intentions for major spring field crops in late March but depending upon what that report says, the market’s reaction and weather, farmers can change their plans. I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on Northwest Aginfo Net.
