Farmers in China will plant less corn this season, resulting in the nation’s smallest crop in six years. A poll finds that, during the spring planting season, growers in China plan to cut corn acreage for the second straight year to 35.2 million hectares, the equivalent of roughly 85 million acres, 4.1 percent less than a year ago. The lower acreage will result in corn output dropping to 207.5 million metric tons in the 2017-18 crop year that ends in September, 5.5 percent lower than the 219.6 million produced in the 2016-17 season. At the same time, China’s soybean output will edge higher to 13.5 million metric tons, 2.9 percent higher than the 13.1 million produced last year. Reuters says the shift towards rising soybean output and falling corn production reflects Beijing’s goal of reducing corn growing to cut its bloated stockpiles.
China currently has around 250 million metric tons of corn in storage, more than one years’ worth of consumption.
Source: NAFB News Service