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Farmers weigh crop options for 2026

Farmers are evaluating their crop options ahead of the next growing season.

Brent Gatton from western Kentucky says his farm will stick to its normal corn-soybean rotation next year, but double crop wheat acres are expected to decline, locally.

Locally, the price of wheat and what it costs to put the crop out, a lot of individuals have just decided not to plant.”

Carla Schultz, who farms in the thumb region of Michigan, says the conversation is ongoing for her farm.

“It’s a mixed bag for commodity prices and what we should actually plant.”

Schultz raises corn, soybeans, wheat, dry beans and livestock. She says crop rotation and evaluating markets are effective strategies for making those decisions.

“In a rotation you might think, oh, maybe corn is supposed to go there, but now we’re planting soybeans because the markets do look a little bit better there. But we really do like to spread it out evenly with our cycle is just for the rotational piece of it.”

Arlan Suderman, the chief commodities economist with StoneX Group, says a shift in the acreage mix is expected in 2026 to more soybeans and less corn.

But he tells Brownfield unclear demand factors like China will have an impact.

“What are the details of the trade agreement, the handshake agreement we saw October 30? We know what the objectives are for soybeans. Is there corn in there? There’s been no mention of it. There’s been various rumors. And will they follow through and take shipment of all the soybeans that they committed to?”

And Suderman says domestic demand for biofuels will also weigh on decisions. 

He says most of the acreage shifts will come from the area outside of the core of the Midwest, and there aren’t many great alternative crop options.