US farmers increase corn plantings

The US Department of Agriculture announced the 2011 farmer planting intentions of 92.2 million acres of corn, 3 million acres of barley and 5.6 million acres of sorghum.

For corn, this represents a nearly 4 million-acre increase from 88.2 million acres in 2010, approaching the 93.5 million acres in 2007, which was the largest corn acreage since World War II.

With grain prices, world food demand and corn stocks on everyone’s mind, grain customers worldwide are keenly focused on US planting intentions this season.

The USDA report is the first official indication that US producers are responding to market signals by significantly expanding their corn production area.

Dick Ziggers