U.S. farmers will plant the most acres in a generation this year, led by the biggest corn crop since World War II, according to a survey by Bloomberg, which pointed to high prices as the key driver.
The news agency reported Feb. 7 that farmers will sow corn, soybeans and wheat on 226.9 million acres, the most since 1984. 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.
Bloomberg noted:
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, Ill., 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.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will release its next World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report on Feb. 9.
