Farmers Business Network released a survey-based report on planting intentions. The report forecasts corn acreage at 91.1 million. If realized, this would be more than two million acres below last year. The biggest decline is projected in North Dakota. FBN Chief Economist Kevin McNew says the alternative crops in North Dakota are getting more attention. “North Dakota is a unique state in that they have a multitude of crops they can grow, not just corn and beans. They have the benefit of spring wheat, feed barley, and pulse crops which are also at really strong levels. We saw from the farmer’s we surveyed was a wholesale change out of corn.” FBN is projecting 11.2 million acres of spring wheat. “I think the biggest surprise that we found was farmer’s unwillingness to go hard into spring wheat. There was a lot of built-in expectations from the market that spring wheat acres would be increasing. Contrary to that, we see spring wheat acres going down.”
