Farmers Plan Biggest U.S. Crop Boost Since 1984, Led by Corn
By Jeff Wilson and Whitney McFerron - Tue Feb 07 13:40:02 GMT 2012
A grain bin is driven through a field as corn is harvested in Sheffield, Illinois. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
U.S. farmers will plant the most acres in a generation this year, led by the biggest corn crop since World War II, taking advantage of the highest agricultural prices in at least four decades.
They will sow corn, soybeans and wheat on 226.9 million acres, the most since 1984, a Bloomberg survey of 36 farmers, bankers and analysts showed. The 2.5 percent gain means an expansion the size of New Jersey, as growers target fields left fallow last year and land freed up from conservation programs.
Crop prices, some of which reached the highest averages ever in 2011, bolstered the economies of Midwest growing states, sent net farm income up 28 percent to $100.9 billion and pushed the value of farmland to a record $2,350 an acre, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. Global food costs are down 11 percent from a peak a year ago as grain output rises from China to Canada, United Nations data show.
“There is unlikely to be any ground that won’t be planted this year,” said Todd Wachtel, a 40 year-old who farms about 5,700 acres in Altamont, Illinois, and plans to expand his corn fields by 21 percent when seeding begins in early April. “Farmers know that they have to plant more when prices are high because they may not last.”
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-07/farmers-plan-biggest-u-s-crop-boost-since-1984-led-by-corn-commodities.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
sigh... not good for the environment
