A Win For Corn Producers
Amanda Huber Editor
While all of the agriculture industry waits to see who the Trump administration will get con rmed in the major positions and how trade will be approached, in late December, the United States scored a decisive victory in its dispute with Mexico over genetically engineered corn restrictions.
A panel convened under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement ruled in favor of the United States on all seven legal claims that Mexico’s measures violated the trade pact. e ruling means that Mexico must end its restrictions on U.S. biotech corn imports.
e decision was hailed as landmark for American farmers and sends a strong message to trading partners worldwide that trade agreements grounded in science and fairness cannot be undermined.
National Corn Growers Association president and Illinois corn farmer Kenneth Hartman Jr., says “ is is an incredible development for the nation’s corn growers and rural communities. is outcome is a direct result of the advocacy e orts of corn grower leaders from across the country. We want to thank the nation’s growers for speaking out and U.S. o cials for listening and acting.
“Mexico is the U.S.’s top customer for corn, and if this decree had been le unchecked, it would have had disastrous e ects on America’s corn growers. In addition, this ban would disrupt the innovation pipeline — impeding farmers’ access to technology — negatively impact trade ows and greenlight other countries to take similar action.
Mexico is the largest buyer of U.S. corn, importing $4.8 billion worth of the gold grain from the United States between January and October 2024. Exports are critical to U.S. producers.
Market Factors
Tight Margins Continue In 2025
Editor’s Note: Each year, University of Georgia agricultural economists develop a comprehensive overview of various sectors of the agriculture industry. e following is an excerpt from the section on corn, soybeans and wheat.
Last year’s harvest saw bountiful production of the major U.S. grain crops. is increase in production was driven by higher yields with corn forecast to set a record yield per acre and soybeans projected to tie for its second-highest yield on record. e increase in soybean and wheat production was also aided by more planted acres during the 2024 crop year. On the demand side, domestic use was up for all three grains as were exports.
Crop prices were all lower by the end of 2024 relative to earlier in the year. However, they were still above both the prepandemic lows and the reference prices in the Farm Bill safety net. Despite slight decreases in input prices compared to 2023, production expenses remained near or above the commodity prices. All these factors led to narrow or negative pro t margins and forecasts of lower net farm incomes.
Looking ahead to 2025, margins will continue to be narrow or negative for grain producers with lingering high input costs and expectations for commodity prices to remain low.
Planted acres of corn varied a lot from 2015 to 2024, while acres of soybeans and wheat remained more steady. Overall, planted acres of corn and wheat are expected to be lower and soybean higher.
e United States planted 90.7 million acres of corn in 2024, which was down 3.9 million acres from 2023. Record-high U.S. corn yields were predicted for the 2024 crop at 183.1 bushels per acre. If realized, total U.S. corn production will reach the third-highest yield on record at 15.1 billion bushels. Compared to the 2023–24 marketing year, the use of corn was projected to be up 221 million bushels for feed, fuels and exports.
Main Takeaways
• Tight margins are expected to continue in 2025 for corn, soybeans and wheat with commodity prices likely near or below the breakeven cost of production.
• Bountiful grain and oilseed production, combined with a strong U.S. dollar and uncertain trade policy, leads to expectations for lower prices in 2025.
• Expect more acres planted to corn, fewer acres planted to soybeans and wheat plantings comparable to last year.
Exports are an important component of demand, and there is uncertainty about how proposed tari s will impact agricultural trade with the new incoming administration. However, the end of 2024 saw a win for U.S. corn exports when an international trade decision ruled that Mexico’s restrictions on imports of genetically modi ed corn violated the terms of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. For the 2024–25 marketing year, around 2.5 billion bushels of U.S. corn are estimated to be exported to foreign markets, up 183 million bushels from 2023. Ending stocks were projected down 22 million bushels from the 2023–24 marketing year to 1.7 billion bushels for the 2024–25 crop.
Georgia producers planted 375,000 acres of corn, down 22.7% from 2023. Yields also were forecast down 18.4% at 142 bushels per acre. If realized, Georgia’s corn production is projected to be down 36.9% from 2023 to the second-lowest level in the past 10 years. With the large U.S. supply and export uncertainty, prices are expected to go down in 2025. Based on futures prices at the writing of this article and a positive historical local basis, expected corn prices in Georgia will likely average $4.75 per bushel in 2025. CS
Corn South: Covering Southern Corn Production
CornSouth is a supplement to the Mid-South and Southeast versions of Cotton Farming magazine and to The Peanut Grower magazine for producers in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi.To receive CornSouth, visit www.CornSouth.com/subscribe.
Send comments to Corn South, 875 W. Poplar Ave., Suite 23, Box 305, Collierville, TN 38017. You may also call 901-767-4020 or contact Lia Guthrie at lguthrie@onegrower.com or Amanda Huber at ahuber@onegrower.com
Nutrient Management
This picture shows research plots at the North Florida Research and Education Unit in Live Oak, Florida, one of the three facilities where researchers are using drones to develop algorithms that estimate nutrient application rates for optimal crop yields.
Estimating Nutrient Needs By Drone
The ability to detect crop nutrient deficiencies and promptly modify fertilizer applications to address them is invaluable to agricultural producers — especially growers operating under slim profit margins. Identifying how much of a particular nutrient to add is a balancing act. A University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences research project underway endeavors to remove the guesswork by providing growers with site-specific data.
UF/IFAS Best Management Practices Lab coordinator Lakesh Sharma leads a team of researchers using drones to develop algorithms that estimate nutrient application rates for optimal crop yields. They are within months of finalizing results related to the nitrogen needs of corn and cotton.
Detecting An Optimum Rate
“In the near future, growers will be able to use sensors to detect how much nitrogen is present in plant leaves and, based on our algorithms, calculate how much additional nitrogen is needed by their crops,” says Sharma, assistant professor of soil fertility and sustainable agriculture.
Establishing optimum rates for nitrogen is important because it is a mobile nutrient easily displaced by water, soil, gases and other factors. It’s also costly.
“If farmers apply too much, it cuts into their profit margins,” he
says. “But they’re also mindful that if they apply less than what is needed, they could go out of business due to yield losses.”
Sharma’s study is one facet of the UF/IFAS Nutrient Management Program, a suite of state-funded research projects updating decades-old nutrient application recommendations for Florida crops. The new rates are meant to deliver crop yields of the highest quality and quantity while minimizing adverse environmental effects.
Aerial Maps With NDVI Values
The algorithms are being developed by Sharma and his team using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, an established predictor of plant health. NDVI values are a ratio of the red wavelengths and near-infrared wavelengths reflected by plant leaves. For the value range: a range from -1 to 1 or low to negative values indicates water or clouds, 0 indicates bare soil and high, positive values indicates lush vegetation.
Using a multispectral sensor mounted to a hexacopter drone, Sharma’s team collected NDVI data from small plot trials at three UF/IFAS properties: the North Florida Research and Education Unit – Suwannee Valley in Live Oak; the Plant Science Research and Education Unit in Citra; and the Hastings Agricultural Extension Center in Hastings. The results are aerial maps with swaths of neon colors corresponding to NDVI values. The team’s algorithms connect a nutrient application rate with each NDVI value.
Product News
Nutrien Ag Solutions Introduces N-FINITY
New N-FINITY technology gives growers flexibility when making on-farm nitrogen management decisions.
Nutrien ag Solutions Inc. announces the launch of N-FINITY, an innovative nitrogen-management solution that combines three modes of action and aims to increase the efficiency and availability of nitrogen for improved plant health and crop yields.
New to the Loveland Products shelf, N-FINITY leverages advanced biological technology to optimize nitrogen availability, assisting crops’ ability to receive the essential nutrients required for optimal growth and yield.
N-FINITY’s proprietary science is designed to improve nitrogen-use efficiency in comparison to current marketplace offerings by:
■ Enhancing the soil’s ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen.
■ r ecruiting nitrogen-fixing bacteria into the root zone.
■ Facilitating the liberation of nitrogen from soil organic pools.
N-FINITY has the potential to more efficiently manage plant-available nitrogen and support farming practices by enhancing the effectiveness of nitrogen fertilizers traditionally used to boost annual crop productivity.
“We are excited to introduce N-FINITY to the U.S. market for use in the 2025 growing season,” says casey McDaniel, vice president of Loveland Products, Inc. “This product represents an advancement for the industry, providing growers with a new tool to enhance onfarm nitrogen management and yield potential.”
N-FINITY will be available for purchase through Nutrien ag Solutions retail locations in spring of 2025. To learn more about N-FINITY, go to lovelandproducts.com/n-finity, or contact your local Nutrien ag Solutions crop consultant.
Greater Nitrogen Efficiency
By allowing the algorithms to direct nitrogen application amounts and by applying fertilizer throughout the growth cycle, Sharma’s team has achieved a nitrogen efficiency rate above 60% — about 15% higher than the national average and 20% higher than the global average.
although the research continues, Sharma is working to share what he’s learned about precision agriculture tools like drones, NDVI sensors and NDVI-derived algorithms with growers. Through demonstrations, growers are learning how to replicate his results. he imagines a future in which they can rely on data gleaned from a sensor in the sky to direct GPS-mounted tractors applying precise amounts of fertilizer through variable-rate nozzles.
“We are making growers aware of this technology and exposing them to it as much as possible, so they can understand how it works and how they can benefit from it,” Sharma says.
Article by Megan Winslow, UF College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
AMVAC, DPH Biologicals Distribution Agreement
american Vanguard corporation today announced that its crop business unit, aMVac, entered into a regional distribution agreement with DPh Biologicals, a leading developer and supplier of agricultural biologicals. The agreement significantly expands american Vanguard’s GreenSolutions portfolio and increases availability of biological products while also expanding DPh Bio’s footprint into specialty crop markets.
Under the long-term agreement, aMVac resells DPh Bio’s key products, which include TerraTrove SP-1 classic and TerraTrove ampl aphex biofertilizers as well as BellaTrove companion Maxx, a novel EPa-approved biocontrol product with both fungicidal and nematocidal activity that is unique in its category. In addition, aMVac distributes future product offerings, utilizing DPh Bio’s TerraTrove technology platform for biofertilizers and the BellaTrove platform for biocontrol products.
DPh Bio significantly strengthens its market access by partnering with aMVac’s U.S. commercial and operational teams with an initial focus on specialty crop markets. With the agreement, aMVac is servicing DPh Bio’s existing customers in the Western and Southern regions by providing enhanced commercial and technical support.
The combination of DPh Bio’s leading products with aMVac’s GreenSolutions portfolio provides an industry-leading offering for aMVac’s grower, distributor and retail partners. The addition of DPh Bio’s TerraTrove products complement aMVac’s current biostimulant portfolio, while Bella Trove companion Maxx provides a novel biocontrol solution for aMVac to complement its extensive crop protection portfolio.
A Normalized Difference Vegetation Index map is used to help detect nitrogen needs in corn at the North Florida Research and Education Unit, Live Oak, Florida.
PHOTO BY AYUSH