CORN GROWERS ANSWERING MARKET DEMAND AT HISTORIC LEVELS

Responding to increasing demand and stronger market prices nationwide, corn growers are embarking on the second highest corn planting season since 1944. This is according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Prospective Plantings report released this morning. "Today's report reaffirms that corn growers make their planting decisions based on the market," said Gary Marshall, chief executive officer with the Missouri Corn Growers Association and Missouri Corn Merchandising Council. "If the weather cooperates, Missouri could be looking at 300,000 additional corn acres over last year's crop, proving corn farmers are working hard to meet the needs of all our customers." According to the highly anticipated report, Missouri farmers are expected to plant 3.3 million acres in 2011. This is the highest planted acreage since 2007 and the state's second largest intended corn crop since 1971. Nationwide, corn growers are expected to plant 92.2 million acres, an increase of 5 percent from last year. In 2010, U.S. farmers brought in the third largest corn crop in history at 12.4 billion bushels. According to the USDA, Missouri corn growers harvested 3 million acres last year, producing 369 million bushels of corn with a base value of more than $2 billion to the state's economy. "In Missouri, corn farmers have a history of exceeding the state's corn demand," Marshall says. "Last year, almost one-third of Missouri's corn crop was exported beyond our borders. If we produce along trend line yields, and if Mother Nature cooperates, we anticipate another record-breaking crop."