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Demand could impact corn/soy acres in 2024

The USDA’s chief economist says U.S. soybeans and corn continue to face a lot of competition on the global market, mostly from Brazil.  But, Seth Meyer tells Brownfield, “I think one of the bright spots has been that domestic demand has held up pretty well for soybean crush in the United States.”

“The Chinese are now taking Brazilian corn,” he says. “We’ve got brand new competition in one of the big destinations for corn and that’s providing us a real challenge.”

And Meyer says that could lead to a shift in acreage this spring. “At Ag Outlook Forum we suggested maybe we’ll have a little bit less corn acres, a little bit more soybean acres next year compared to this year,” he says.  “In part because you see the bean-to-corn price ratio reflecting some strength in beans. Maybe that’s why you’ll see more bean acres and less corn, and I think part of that support is domestic demand.”

The USDA’s Prospective Plantings report, which outlines the expected plantings for the upcoming year and recaps last year’s harvest data, comes out March 28 at Noon Eastern/11 AM Central.

Brownfield’s Carah Hart interviewed Meyer during the Missouri Farm Bureau president’s trip to Washington, D.C.