By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Though Iowa still rules as America’s “Corn Kings,” Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota and North Dakota all set state records for corn acreage planted in 2007, according to the most recent Acreage report issued by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

“We are extremely happy with this report because it shows the responsiveness of growers to market signals,” commented Steve Ruh, president of the Illinois Corn Growers Assoc. (ICGA) and a corn producer from Sugar Grove.

“There has been a growing public concern that we will not be able to meet the demands for food, feed, fuel and exports, but I think this should help quiet some of this debate.”

According to the report, U.S. farmers planted 92.9 million acres of corn in 2007, besting last year’s total acreage by 19 percent and surpassing NASS’ March projection by three percent. The actual planted acreage for corn in the United States in 2007 is the highest since 1944, when 95.5 million corn acres were planted.

“This crop is not made by a long shot but it looks very positive at this point in the growing season,” Ruh said in a statement. “The diversity of products that we can make from corn and the productivity of our growers are a huge asset for this nation. I think the public understands this now more than ever before, so hopefully ICGA can build this into even greater support for trade, expanded livestock production, ethanol and other corn products.”

Favorable prices coupled with growing ethanol demand and strong export sales drove higher corn acreage in nearly all states. Iowa continued to lead all states in corn production.

The increase in corn is mainly offset by fewer soybean acres in the Corn Belt and Great Plains, along with fewer cotton acres in the Delta and Southeast. The report shows planted soybean acreage at 64.1 million, down 15 percent from 2006’s record-high and down 5 percent from the March forecast. Cotton acreage is down by 28 percent from last year and is at its lowest level since 1989.

The report reflects the nation’s farmers’ growing use of bio-technologies. Corn growers planted 73 percent of their acres with biotech seed varieties, up 4 percent, while soybean producers planted 91 percent of their acreage with biotech seed, up two percent from 2006.

The acreage survey was conducted during the first two weeks of June on approximately 11,000 segments of land and from a sample of around 88,000 farm operators across the United States.
The report is available at www.nass.usda.gov