Record Corn Crop Won't Solve Supply Challenges

Corn supplies will stay tight in the U.S., the largest grower and exporter, even as greater planting spurs record production, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief economist said. Soybean and cotton crops may also increase.

Farmers will harvest a record 13.73 billion bushels of corn this year, up from 12.447 billion last year, on 92 million planted acres, Joe Glauber, the economist, said today at a USDA forum near Washington. Greater demand for livestock feed and ethanol will limit gains in stockpiles next year, after dropping to the lowest level since 1996, he said. Prices are up 80 percent in the past year on the Chicago Board of Trade.

“Despite an increase in acres, the corn market is going to remain tight,” Glauber said. “It points to the fierce competition for acreage this spring.”

Tighter supplies helped boost global food costs by 25 percent last year, reaching the highest ever last month, according to the United Nations. Rising demand also is helping to boost net-farm income in the U.S. by 20 percent this year to a record $94.7 billion, the USDA said earlier this month. U.S. farm exports will jump 25 percent to a record $135.5 billion in fiscal 2011, Glauber said today.






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