Early estimates for next year s corn and soybean plantings have begun to flow in, even as the harvest of this year s corn and soybean crops continues. While soybeans may pick up some of that slack acreage, there are concerns that demand may outpace supply, given the growth in the global market for biodiesel, a cleaner burning fuel made from vegetable oils. The USDA currently projects soybean inventories at the end of the crop year will stand at 215 million bushels, down from 573 million...

BY PHYLLIS JACOBS GRIEKSPOOR The Wichita Eagle Corn above $5, soybeans topping $13, wheat hitting $10 -- it all could happen before the market volatility shakes out at the end of 2008, market analysts told an audience of more than 500 people at the Wichita Farm and Ranch show. BY PHYLLIS JACOBS GRIEKSPOOR The Wichita Eagle Corn above $5, soybeans topping $13, wheat hitting $10 -- it all could happen before the market volatility shakes out at the end of 2008, market analysts told an...

High shipping costs and competitive soybean futures prices may steer more demand to the US markets in the months to come. The problem is that corn for ethanol production is using up record amounts of the available planting acreage at the expense of soybeans. In our opinion, the increase in global demand and the decrease in available acreage will lead to a dramatic increase in soybean futures prices over the next six months. So the global demand for soybeans is increasing at the same time...

Choked by a record corn harvest, the state's grain elevator operators are turning away soybean farmers Sunday, November 11, 2007 By Jen DeGregorio On a recent morning at the Port of Greater Baton Rouge, a line of idling trucks waited to deliver loads of soybeans to the Cargill grain elevator, which stores the crop in huge, metal bins on the edge of the Mississippi River. Choked by a record corn harvest, the state's grain elevator operators are turning away soybean farmers Sunday, November...

Still, area farmers and grain buyers say they are having no problems marketing corn or soybeans --- 91 percent of the nation's soybean acres are biotech --- this year. Despite the reluctance of some countries to buy all genetically-altered grain, farmers don't appear to have marketing issues this year. Domestic consumers readily feed and process genetically-modified corn and soybeans once it is federally approved as safe. Soybean acreage nationwide was down 15 percent this year to 64....

Experts say the recent confirmation of soybean rust in Iowa in 2006 should serve as a reminder that the fungus can happen in Iowa. On March 8, he says an independent crop consultant brought in two baggies, one containing seeds and pods and one with parts of a dead soybean leaf. While experts were able to confirm rust on the soybean leaves when they were dead, Tylka says it is more important to look for signs of the disease earlier. Soybean leaves show various amounts of soybean rust. After...