Prices reducing corn, soybeans plantings in 2015 – USDA

Farmers, facing multiyear lows in corn and soybean prices and a sharp drop in income, are poised to lower plantings of both crops in 2015, the federal government said Thursday.

In its outlook for next year, the Agriculture Department said farmers will sow 88 million acres of corn, a decline from 90.9 million acres planted earlier this year. At the same time, soybean plantings will dip 200,000 acres to 84 million acres.

The forecast also predicted plantings of the eight major field crops - corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, sorghum, barley, oats and rice – will amount to 254.7 million acres in 2015, down from 258.5 million acres in 2014.

The USDA "is saying that the low prices are going to kick some of the fringe acres out" of production, said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities in West Des Moines.

Iowa is the country's largest corn producer and second-largest soybean producer. Farmers are expected to harvest a record 3.96 billion bushels of soybeans and 14.41 billion bushels of corn this year, both records. If USDA's projections for next year hold true, growers would harvest an estimated 3.82 billion bushels of soybeans and 13.45 billion bushels of corn.

Growers will net $216 an acre in 2015 for corn, down from $244 this year and $349 in 2013. Soybeans will post a similar decline to $207 an acre, down from $289 in 2014 and $389 a year ago

The USDA's long-term projections, which look ahead to 2024, see corn bushels used for ethanol largely remaining unchanged from current levels. This year, corn used to make the renewable fuel totaled 5.15 billion bushels, or about 35 percent of the crop. By 2024, 5.2 billion of the projected 15.1 billion bushel crop will be used for making the renewable fuel.

To view the data, please go to: Long-term Agricultural Projections