The Iowa-Nebraska Equipment Dealers Association, (I-NEDA) in conjunction with AgriSource, Inc. conducted an acreage survey during the Iowa Power Farming Show held January 30th to February 1st , 2018 in Des Moines, Iowa. Great weather helped show attendance reach 23,002, up from 19,962 last year at the third largest indoor farm show in the U.S. Approximately 2,200 surveys with over 2.2 million corn and soybean acres were analyzed from Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, and Nebraska. Additionally, AgriSource conducted an online acreage survey during the last week of January and the first week of February with its Midwest customer base.
“The survey is indicating a minor shift to more soybeans and less corn here in Iowa, and across the Midwest. Our company is projecting Iowa corn acres at 13.1 mln acres, and soybeans at 10.2 mln acres," says Keith Gehling of AgriSource. "The soybean acreage in 2017 expanded by almost 8% for the US, and it appears that we will maintain record soybean acreage and add to it for 2018. The Iowa and U.S. acreage numbers are still a moving target, though. If you look at the latest drought monitor maps, producers are concerned in areas that have been missing rains and snow. How wheat comes out of dormancy could shift some acres back to corn or beans."
“This is the eleventh year that we have worked with the I-NEDA on the Iowa Power Farming Show acreage survey,” Gehling added. “The sample size on the Iowa survey is roughly 7% of the 24 million corn and soybean acres planted in the state. Last year the survey came within 100,000 acres of the final Iowa corn acreage estimate, while soybeans came in exactly where the farm show survey pegged them back in February 2017.” Gehling added that the survey has been a good indication for Iowa acreage over the past 11 years. The AgriSource survey also asked at what price the producer would consider planting more corn acres. Gehling said, “The majority of respondents answered that they will consider planting additional corn acres if December 2018 corn rallied to $4.25 or $4.50. A 25 cent rally on new crop corn could buy additional corn acres, and pull acres away from soybeans.” Tom Junge, Iowa Power Farming Show director stated, “I appreciate the time that the producers took to complete the survey. We hope this information will assist them in making better decisions in marketing their products and planning for the future.” Of course the usual disclaimer applies - the estimates are as of February 12th, and are subject to change as market conditions have changed since the survey was taken