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2017 Logan County Farm Outlook Magazine
LINCOLN DAILY NEWS
March 23, 2017
Page 11
For the past two years, the average price of corn
has been less than $4.00 per bushel. Currently,
prices below $4.00 are expected to persist
through 2017.
Such a projection, provided by the USDA,
includes a reduction in cost for planting the
crop. According to experts, it would likely
require a reduction in the amount of corn planted
combined with increased purchases in the
market for prices return to $4.00 per bushel or
higher in any consistent way.
As of the end of February, market projections
depict farmers planting fewer corn acres in 2017;
fewer than the 94 million acres planted in 2016.
The USDA long-term baseline projections for
2017 list a planted acreage for corn at 90.0
million acres, which would lead to around 83
million acres harvested.
As for projected yield averages, USDA
projections set the 2017 yield at 170.8 bushels
corn per acre. This assumes a year of average
weather conditions. Those projections would be
altered if the weather is bad enough during the
growing season.
Corn prices will also be influenced by
international crop production. For example,
Brazilian production declined to 2.64 billion
bushels in 2016 due to drought, but the
projections for 2017 are expected to rebound
back to 3.4 billion bushels. Altogether, global
production projections come in eight percent
higher than 2016.
Corn export levels obviously vary each year.
Over the last ten years, corn export levels have
ranged from a low of 730 million bushels in
2013, to 2.44 billion bushels back in 2008. Corn
The prospect
of higher
prices
By Derek Hurley
A
s farmers contemplate the conundrum surrounding corn and the
domestic markets, there is undoubtedly a constant question running
through their heads. What are the prospects for higher corn prices
in 2017? It is time to look ahead at projections for the year and plan
accordingly as farmers assess their yields from last year and the potential
yields.
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