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Declines in U.S. corn acres could pressure feed prices and create headwinds for the livestock sector

A livestock economist says he’s expecting fewer corn acres in Tuesday’s Prospective Plantings report and that could impact feed prices for livestock producers.

Kenny Burdine with the University of Kentucky says tighter margins were already pointing to increased soybean acres.  “The recent run up in fertilizer prices have changed this even more,” he says. “The story to me is that we’re going to see a decrease in corn acres. We’re going to see it shift other crops. It’s a question of how significant that decrease is, and I think it’ll be relatively significant.” 

He tells Brownfield if there are fewer corn acres in 2026, it will have an impact on the livestock sector. “That’s one reason why I think we saw some response in the livestock markets,” he says. “In addition to all of the concerns that there are, this potential shift in grain acres as another possible headwind, not just on the input cost side, but the impact that it has on the value of feeder cattle and calves that get placed on feed-based programs.”

The report comes out Tuesday at Noon Eastern/11 am Central.