Louisiana Corn Acres Expected to Decline

By Keely Ana Stickland and Neil Melançon

Louisiana Farm Bureau News

Corn is traditionally a staple crop in Louisiana. However, this year may be different.

Beauregard Parish grain farmer David Smith planted 500 acres of corn this year, but he seems to be the outlier in the widespread production decline. Unlike many farmers, Smith is fortunate enough to still have a market to sell all the corn he can grow to a local feed mill.

“I can go five minutes away and sell every bushel we have,” said Smith. “It’s a good deal for us and a good deal for the feed mill.”

The price of corn has declined over the last year. The overhead costs have gone down as well, but they are not where they should be in relation to corn prices.

“Farmers are perpetual optimists,” Smith said. “You know, last year we were really hammered with droughts over here.”

Last year’s drought compounded with lower commodity prices resulted in the huge shift in acreage this year. This is an extensive problem and the LSU AgCenter predicts that there will be 20% fewer corn acres in Louisiana than normal.

“For the most part, corn acres are going into either cotton or beans, especially north of here,” said Dulaney. “Bean yields have been going extremely well. Guys are just accustomed to cutting 80 bushels of soybeans. But now, even with prices where they are, they’re barely getting by. They’re not making big dollars like they did the past several years.”

Unlike last year, recent weather conditions have been kind to Smith’s wheat crop. As a result, he intends to put more emphasis on the crop and is anticipating a nice yield in the coming months.

“We still have a ways to go,” said Smith. “We're fine tuning what we're going to do to the wheat crop this year. We’re not treating it as a second-hand crop as it can be treated in our area, so I'm looking forward to a pretty decent wheat crop. You know, as long as everything goes as planned.”