US corn farmers are likely to plant an additional 2 million acres of corn this spring, according to the newest outlook from the USDA that pegged plantings at 90 million acres in total. This projection was higher than expected and crushed corn prices to a six-week low.
Farmers are likely to add corn and reduce soybean acres in an effort to scrape by this year, hoping that they can breakeven more easily on corn.
Increasing acres, alongside diminishing demand from ethanol producers and livestock feeders, put pressure on corn, which traded as low as $3.54 per bushel on Friday.
Meanwhile, wheat prices were hit even harder, with Chicago wheat dropping to a five-year low at $4.38 per bushel, a price so cheap that it may begin prompting farmers to feed wheat to cattle instead of selling it solely for human consumption.