Huge jump in corn planting expected

Not since 1981, when President Reagan ended the Soviet grain embargo, have Iowa farmers planted close to the record 14.4 million acres of corn they seeded that year.

But that record could fall this year. The best indication will come when the U.S. Department of Agriculture releases on Friday its widely anticipated survey of farmers’ 2007 planting intentions.

Analysts are expecting the report to project historic increases in corn acreage both in Iowa and nationally because of soaring grain prices. Everyone from livestock farms to ethanol producers to food processors also will be watching the report because of the importance of farmers’ plans to the price of commodities.

“I’ve had just a ton of people over the noon hour asking me what this report is going to say,” said Tim Recker, an Arlington farmer who is president-elect of the Iowa Corn Growers Association.

“Don’t underestimate the Iowa farmer for being able to overproduce. The market is telling him to plant corn. He’s going to plant corn.”

Nationally, analysts are estimating that corn acreage will increase by about 10 percent or more to levels not seen since the 1940s. In Iowa, ground zero for the nation’s booming grain ethanol industry, the increase could even be larger.

Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities Inc., an investment and analysis firm based in West Des Moines, expects Iowa farmers to plant 15 percent more corn this year, which would just break the 1981 record. In 2006, farmers planted 12.6 million acres to corn in Iowa and 78.3 million nationwide.

Des Moines Register