This year, farmers banking on soybeans

Ohio has gone for beans, again.

The state’s more than 74,000 farmers plan to sow 5 million acres of soybeans in the coming months, 3 percent more than last year and a record, if the forecast comes true, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The acreage devoted to corn will remain about the same in Ohio, at a little more than 3.5 million acres, though, nationally, corn acreage is expected to be down 4 percent.

“This (report) just told us what we already thought,” said Bret Davis, who farms corn and soybeans on more than 3,000 acres in Delaware County. “The bankers are saying beans are the only thing that can make any money.”

Soybean prices have fallen from historic highs a few years ago, but have held up much better than corn, which is trading at less than half of

its historic high of more than $8 a bushel in 2012.

China imports a huge portion of the U.S. soybean harvest, and demand there remains strong. Corn does not have as strong of a driver of sales, and corn stocks are still high after several years of bumper crops.

Since 2005, China’s soybean imports have more than tripled, and it now buys more than 60 percent of the world’s exports, according to Bloomberg News. The demand is primarily driven by its livestock sector as a growing middle class consumes more meat.

“Beans cost a lot less to

grow, so from a cash-flow perspective, beans are much better right now,” said Matt Roberts, founder of Kernmantle Group, an agricultural economy analyst. “In 2016, probably half of row crop farmers did not make money.”

Davis echoed that sentiment, noting that while he didn’t plant more soybeans this year, he has felt the sting of cheap corn.

“We’re down 47 percent of our income from what it was a few years ago,” he said. “We’re hoping for a little bounce in corn.”

Corn has led soybeans in the number of acres planted in the U.S. for more than 30 years, and will in 2017 as well, but the two crops are separated by just

half-a-million acres this year, a testament to the strength of soybean markets.

That’s stunning in a farm community that has long banked on the profitability of corn. A dip in corn acres could be what farmers need right now. Less corn production could give prices a boost later this year or next year.

“The good news is, there is going to be less corn planted this year,” Roberts said. “It has been said, the best cure for high prices are high prices, and the best cure for low prices are low prices.”

Leading the decline in acreage devoted to corn across the U.S. are Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa, each a much larger corn-producing state than Ohio, according to the USDA.

Acreage devoted to wheat also is down, both in Ohio and the U.S.

Nationally, wheat planting will be at the lowest level since record keeping began in 1919, according to the USDA. Ohio will see its fewest acres of wheat ever as well, and state records date to the 1860s.

Like corn, wheat isn’t a money-maker right now.

“It has always been the least profitable of the big three row crops in Ohio,” Roberts said.

Though planting hasn’t started yet, Davis said everything is ready for the new season. He added that things might look bleak today, but much can change by harvest.

“As farmers, we are always optimistic,” he said.