First Posted: 2/19/2015
LIMA — The upcoming season may be a solid one for farmers growing corn.
Matthew Roberts, associate professor at the Ohio State University, said the corn market is strong in relation to the overall market after presenting at the Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce Ag Outlook event on Thursday.
“In corn particularly, there’s a lot of analysts who are talking about fewer acres getting planted,” Roberts said. “I think that market’s going to tighten up.”
Corn use for ethanol has “flattened off,” Roberts said, which means there needs to be growth in livestock use.
“This is our big opportunity for domestic growth,” he said.
During the event, Roberts also touched on the forecast for soybeans and wheat. He was one of about four speakers at the event, the first of its kind hosted by the chamber, but one Beth Seibert hopes will become annual.
“This kind of event … is really missing, and we wanted to bring that back,” said Seibert, chairwoman of the chamber’s agribusiness committee, which hosted the event.
An agricultural outlook event hasn’t been hosted in the county for several years, she said. Residents voted out the OSU-Extension program in Allen County a few years ago.
“We want to reconnect with the farmers in Allen County,” she said.
There are 904 farms in the county and 141 million receipts of crop and livestock sales, she said. About 60 people turned out for the event.
Other speakers touched on keeping farms in the family and farmers’ responsibility with healthy water. Congressman Jim Jordan spoke and hosted a short questian-and-answer period with attendees.
Roberts also spoke of sales timing, warning farmers of potential competition with South American farmers.
“Existing soybeans should be sold as quickly as possible,” he said. “There is a lot of risk in soybeans that will be harvested this fall.”
As for wheat, well, that’s all “political,” Roberts said.
“There’s a lot of wheat in the world right now,” he said. “We’re not competing in pricing it out … I am not really excited about wheat prices.”
Roberts also reminded those in attendance that “we’re always one giant crop away from really low prices. We saw that this year.”
He’s not worried about moving into a low-price scenario next year.
“We saw a lot of acres move into corn and into [soybeans],” Roberts said. “Where they’re going to go … That’s the real question, if we want to talk five years down the road.”