Page 36 October 27, 2015
2015 Logan County Farm Outlook Magazine
LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.COM
A
mong principal crops grown in the United
States, corn and soybeans present an
interesting binary. Every year, corn and soybeans
are traded out in fields by farmers for one reason
or another. Perhaps the soil will benefit from
one crop over the other, or maybe it is a simple
rotation being followed. Whatever the reason,
the choice of corn and soybeans is a decision
which boils down to a question of finances. In
other words, which crop when harvested will
bring in the higher profit?
2014 Data
In the years leading up to 2014, farmers in
Illinois profited off of corn prices that ranged
between $6 and $8 per bushel. In 2012, corn
prices even exceeded $8 per bushel. However,
in 2014, the bottom fell out of the corn market,
and prices fell in a major way. According to data
from the University of Illinois, the average price
for corn by the end of 2014 was $4.11.
Additional data from the USDA that was released
in June of 2015 reveals that 11.9 million acres of
corn were planted in the state of Illinois in 2014.
Of that total, an estimated 11.8 million acres were
harvested.
In Logan County, farmers planted an estimated
201,500 acres of corn. 200,000 acres were
harvested, the average yield was 230.8 bushels
per acre, and the total number of bushels was
46,156,000. This data was provided by the
USDA, and applies to 2014.
On the other side of the coin, soybean prices have
not been as relatively stable when compared to
corn. From 2012 through the first half of 2014,
United States farmers benefitted from bean prices
that ranged from $12 to nearly $16 per bushel.
Soybean prices have jumped up and down since
September of 2014. Earlier this month, Darrel
Good in a post on the University of Illinois
Farmdoc website said, “Soybean prices have been
on a roller coaster over the past three months.
November 2015 soybean futures traded to a high
of $10.45 on July 14, declined to a low of $8.53
on September 11, and rebounded to a high of
$9.16 on October 14.”
Regardless of increase or decrease, bean prices
are much lower than they once were. Due to the
How did the 2015
corn bean ratio shift?
Continued
