Midwest farmers expected to plant more corn

Farmers are expecting to plant more corn and fewer soybeans this year, according to a survey of 1,246 growers in the Midwest from March 7 to March 23.

Farm Futures of St. Charles, Ill., projects corn plantings at 90 million acres, up 2.3 percent from 2015, when adverse weather kept farmers from planting some 2.6 million acres.

Some of the largest gains could come in Illinois and Indiana, where yields suffered last year, while growers in Iowa and the northwest Midwest, who enjoyed record yields, also could post increases.

'Corn appears to be gaining ground by default, because farmers are a little more optimistic about rallies during the growing season, thanks to a lot of talk about potential for the El Nino to end soon,” Bryce Knorr, Farm Futures grain market analyst, said in a news release. 'Our research shows that would increase potential for at least modest gains.”

Knorr, who conducted the survey, said farmers appear ready to cut back on soybeans, following back-to-back record crops and yields. Farm Futures is projecting acreage of the oilseed falling to 82.2 million acres, down about 0.5 percent from 2015.

Growers put their average price target for 2016 corn at a futures price of $4.12 per bushel. By contrast, the average futures price target for soybeans was only $9.27 per bushel, a dollar or more below break-even levels.

'Farmers are banking on rallies because they still have a lot of 2015 production unpriced,” Knorr said. 'Growers told us they have more than 40 percent of last year's corn still in storage, with 30 percent of the soybean crop still unpriced.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will release its first survey-based estimate of corn and soybean planting on March 31.

Over the last eight years, Farm Futures' March survey has deviated from USDA's corn estimate by an average 1.2 percent. For soybeans, the deviation is 3 percent.