Easing drought conditions in the Gulf states has made the situation for planting and growing corn more favorable for farmers, Chip Flory, editor of ProFarmer said during a Grain and Meat Outlook Webinar on Wednesday, hosted by WATTAgNet and FarmJournal. Flory anticipates a sizable increase in corn produced in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, as well as a little further north into Arkansas.
With corn carrying a greater profit potential than cotton, many farmers are making that leap away. Flory estimated that anywhere from 2.5 to 3 million acres in land that ordinarily may have been used for cotton will be available for other crops. Corn will be planted in most of that land, Flory said.
Logistics will also play a key role in where the grain ends up. “The ethanol industry is under a lot of stress, and it hasn’t been able to pull corn in from other states or from overseas for that matter. It’s been shutting plants down and cutting down on production schedules,” said Dr. Thomas Elam, president of FarmEcon, who also participated in the Outlook Webinar. Added costs to ship the corn to other regions and current struggles for the ethanol industry may put poultry producers in the region in a good position to compete for that grain supply, he said.
