Why Corn Acreage Varies From Year to Year

May 13, 2024

By Jonathan Eisenthal

As highlighted in the USDA’s annual Prospective Plantings Report, the number of acres planted to corn in Minnesota changes each year—typically a few hundred thousand above or below 8 million. So, what accounts for those changes?

There’s no one reason, farmers say, but rather a multitude of factors, such as crop and input prices and disease pressures.

In 2024, for example, Sibley County farmer Ellyn Oelfke, a member of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) Board of Directors, said her family decided to slightly decrease corn acres in favor of soybeans.

“Typically, we are on a 60-40 ratio of corn to soybeans, and this year we are going to be right at 50-50,” she said. “Where markets are at, it looks like a better opportunity to plant just a little more soybeans this year.”

In southern Minnesota, some farmers converted some of their corn acres to soybeans this year to keep western corn rootworm in check, according to Brandon Fast, who farms in Cottonwood County and runs a seed and chemical supply business. Fast is also a member of the Minnesota Corn Research & Promotion Council.

In the southern Red River Valley and around Otter Tail County and surrounding counties, some farmers skipped corn and soybeans on some acres altogether in favor of wheat, said University of Minnesota Extension Integrated Pest Management Specialist Bruce Potter. He said the goal there is to head off soybean cyst nematode,

Still, not all farmers are changing course. MCGA board members Rob Tate and John Swanson farm in Goodhue County in southeast Minnesota and Polk County in northwest Minnesota, respectively. They both said that, for themselves and their neighbors, there doesn’t appear to be any significant deviations from common crop rotations.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.