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Market watch: farmers hold “fence-line acres” as corn/soybean balance looks steady

A farmer and seed retailer in southeast Minnesota does not anticipate a dramatic acreage shift next year.

Darin Johnson farms near Wells and says a lot of nitrogen was applied this fall.

“Those corn acres are locked in. From a seed perspective, we are going to be probably about the same as where we were last year. Not a ton more corn on corn acres.”

He tells Brownfield some farmers want to be flexible going into the spring.

“We always call it the ‘fence line acres.’ A lot of customers that sit on them acres until they figure out which way this market is going to go. Depending on China, could tack on a dollar on this bean market pretty quickly and fairly easily, and I think that might sway some acres.”

Johnson, who serves as president of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, says based on current seed sales the corn-soybean acre split will be similar to 2025.