Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: US farmers continue to bet on corn, though punished by slumping prices after last year’s monster corn harvest. They are expected to cut back only slightly on their plantings of the grain in 2026 as they brace for a fourth straight year of narrow profit margins or even losses.
Farmers expect corn, the most widely grown US crop, to hew close to break-even levels this year, supported by strong usage. Some see soybeans as riskier, given rising competition from Brazil and a volatile US trade relationship with top buyer China.
Most growers in America’s Midwest farm belt grow both crops, alternating what gets planted on each field from year to year to boost soil health. Many add wheat, sorghum, cotton or other crops to their rotations. But among farmers who have some flexible acres where they can plant anything, many see corn as their best bet. Decisions are particularly challenging this year after the US Agriculture Department made unprecedented revisions in January to its estimate of the last season’s harvested corn acreage, which, along with larger-than-expected estimates of the 2025 corn yield and stocks on hand as of December 1, pushed down prices.
Biggest crop
US farmers grew the biggest corn crop in history last year at more than 17 billion bushels, stuffing the nation’s grain bins and weighing on Chicago Board of Trade corn futures. Some U.S. farmers are struggling to stay solvent, even with increased government aid payments. Soybeans cost less to grow, and demand from domestic crushers and the burgeoning biofuels industry should help offset diminished export sales due to trade tensions with China, by far the world’s largest buyer.
