Indiana Corn Acres Decrease as Ethanol Production Increases

Field/Orchard/Plantation Crops/Residues, Sustainability

October 7, 2009

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(Hoosier Ag Today, Indiana Corn Marketing Council) For the last five years, Madison County farmer Mike Shuter has maintained the same crop rotation on his farm of two-thirds of his fields in corn and one-third in soybeans. He hasn’t seen the need to increase his corn acres even with the evolution of the biofuels industry and its need for corn.

This seems to be the trend across the state. Indiana farmers planted 5.7 million acres of corn in both 2008 and 2009, down from 6.5 million acres in 2007. The majority of Indiana farmers plant corn and soybeans in a two-year rotation… At the same time as farmers across the country reduced the number of corn acres planted, U.S. ethanol production increased from 6.5 billion gallons per year in 2007 to more than 9 billion gallons last year.
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• In 2007, 27 percent of the corn acres planted in Indiana were managed in a no-till system. In comparison, only 9 percent of corn acres were no-tilled in 1990. The adoption of no-till and other conservation tillage practices from 1990 to 2007 has led to significantly less soil loss across the state from farm fields.
• Since 1980, input utilization per bushel of corn produced in the United States has reduced significantly, including 40 percent decrease in nitrogen, 45 percent decrease in phosphorus and 50 percent decrease in potash.
• Since 1977, the energy used to produce a bushel of corn has decreased 37 percent.
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