Corn Acreage Could Fall by Millions of Acres

USAgNet reports that the Linn Group, a Chicago-based commodities consulting firm, said that corn acreage in the U.S. could dip as low as 87 million acres, down from the 92 million acres the USDA reported at the end of March.

According to the Des Moines Register, U.S. farmers planted about 88 million acres last year and, due to unusually wet weather, produced a crop that was about 7% below the 2009 crop and played a major role in the doubling of corn prices since last June.

Domestic stocks of corn are at a 15-year low due to strong demand from exports and ethanol. Spot shortages of corn reportedly have occurred and are expected to deepen as summer progresses.

An estimated two million acres of corn have been lost due to flooding on the lower Mississippi River last month and also due to unusually wet conditions in the eastern corn belt in Indiana and Ohio.

A new worry is the potential for flooding on the Missouri River, which could take between 200,000 and 500,000 acres of corn out of production in South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri. Most farmers consider June too late for replanting of lost corn. ◆