Ag Beat: Soybeans are on the rise

Agricultural producers on Tuesday got their first look at grain stocks from 2015, as well as some idea of what will be planted in 2016, with the release of two of the most highly anticipated reports of the year from the USDA.

One overall impression – there are a lot of soybeans out there, and there are about to be a lot more.

Nationally, corn stocks as of March 1 were up 11 percent from a year earlier, according to the USDA, but in Ohio they were down, with the 343 million bushels this March a reduction from the 363 million bushels in storage as of March 2014.

Of this year's 343 million bushels of Ohio corn, 200 million were being stored on farms with the remaining 143 million bushels in off-farm storage, as farmers continue to wait for the price of corn to recover.

In February, Ohio producers received an average price of $3.95 a bushel for their corn, an improvement from the average of $3.87 in January, but still below the $4.37 a bushel of last February, the USDA said in yet another report released Tuesday.

Across the country, soybean stocks were up dramatically from last year, by 34 percent, according to the USDA, and that trend was mirrored in the Buckeye State, where stocks shot up from 63 million bushels in March 2014 to 102 million bushels this March.

As with corn, most of Ohio's beans were being stored on farms, 58 million bushels, while 44 million were in off-farm storage.

The state's farmers were paid an average of $10.30 a bushel for their soybeans in February, off from $10.60 in January and well below the average of $13.40 a bushel last February.

Wheat numbers have shown more stability year to year, with stocks for all wheat varieties up 6 percent from 2014. In Ohio, stocks of winter wheat this March were down only slightly from last March, to 39 million bushels from 41 million bushels a year ago. The vast majority of those stocks – 37 million bushels – were in off-farm storage.

But Ohio's farmers are seeing lower prices for their wheat as well, the USDA said, receiving an average price of $5.47 a bushel in February, down from $5.96 in January and $5.87 last February.

Looking ahead, the country's farmers intend to plant 2 percent less corn this year than they did in 2014, or 89.2 million acres. That's in keeping with a trend.

"If realized, this will be the third consecutive year of an acreage decline and would be the lowest planted acreage in the United States since 2010," the USDA said.

Ohio's producers will mirror the national trend, planting 3.5 million of their acres in corn in 2015, off from 3.7 million last year and 3.9 million acres the year before that.

Soybeans, meanwhile, are on the rise, with acreage devoted to the grain expected to climb by 1 percent this year over last nationwide, to 84.6 million acres, still trailing corn acreage but not by much.

"Compared with last year, planted acreage intentions are up or unchanged in 21 of the 31 major producing states," the USDA said.

In Ohio, acres in beans will once again easily eclipse corn acreage this growing season. Farmers intend to plant 5.1 million acres in soybeans in 2015, up from 4.8 million in 2014 and 4.5 million in 2013.

Finally, the USDA expects U.S. wheat acreage to drop by 3 percent this year compared to last, to 55.4 million acres. Winter wheat acres in Ohio should also continue dropping, from 660,000 acres in 2013 and 620,000 in 2014 to just 550,000 this year.

Progress on algae

Awaiting Gov. John Kasich's signature is a compromise bill crafted by the state Legislature to curb the spread of toxic algae in western Lake Erie's watershed, which includes much of north central Ohio.

The most impactful provision in the bill prohibits the spreading of manure and other fertilizers when fields are frozen or saturated, although exemptions are allowed if it's incorporated into the soil within 24 hours.

Application of nutrients would also be prohibited if there is at least a 50 percent chance of rain – of more than an inch within 12 hours if the fertilizer is nitrogen or phosphorus, and half an inch within 24 hours if the farmer is applying manure.

Signs of recovery

A year after hog populations in Ohio and elsewhere were decimated by the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, hog inventory is showing clear signs of a recovery.

The state's total hog and pig inventory was up to 2.27 million head as of March 1, the USDA said, 14 percent higher than a year before. Nationally, inventories are up by 7 percent for the same period.

Meanwhile, although bee populations continue to suffer from a host of maladies, honey production in the Buckeye State was up 20 percent last year over 2013, to 915 thousand pounds, according to the USDA (it was up 19 percent nationwide). Ohio ranks 24th in the U.S. in honey production.

thill#@gannett.com

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Twitter: @ToddHillMNJ