Remember, Corn is Not Just Grown in the Corn Belt

With today’s release of the USDA acreage report, it is becoming more apparent that the production of corn is rapidly expanding outside of the corn belt.  North Dakota (3.9 million acres) for 2013 has almost planted as much acreage to corn as Ohio (3.95 million acres).

My father was born in South Dakota and was raised in North Dakota and I visited this state many times about 20 years ago.  At that time, I do not remember seeing one acre of corn.  We now have almost 4 million acres being planted to corn.

I believe that we will continue to see this expansion of corn into areas that never grew corn 20 years ago.  Also, you may see the traditional corn belt start to contract if weather conditions continue to change.

The acreage report appears to be bearish, but remember, the crop still needs to be pollinated and we know how hot weather can affect that.

Paul Neiffer, CPA