Farmers faced not being able to get their corn in on time have several options. They may switch acres from corn to soybeans or they may use “prevented planting “ insurance.
Though some farmers may go with a different option.
Iowa State University Extension Agronomist, Virgil Schmitt, said some farmers may put land back into conservation programs.
These programs include the Conservation Reserve Program or Wetland Reserve program.
Schmitt said many farmers took acres out of the programs as corn prices have risen and requirements to put land into the programs have become more strict as federal funding dried up.
Prime farm ground is unlikely to put back into CRP because of the rain, Schmitt said, but marginal land less well suited for production, may be put back into the program.
“There’s a reason why the marginal land was in CRP. A lot of times people would say that the land went into CRP was land that never should have been row cropped in the first place. And I think there’s a certain amount of truth to that,” Schmitt said.
Schmitt said that higher rates for CRP programs and lower corn prices may make conservation programs more attractive than just a few years ago.
He added that whole fields may not go back into the programs, but the most environmentally sensitive parts might.
