URBANDALE, Iowa - This morning the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its planting intentions and as expected, soybean acres are down. It is predicted for the state of Iowa that the 2007 planting season will see 950,000 fewer soybean acres, which is slightly less than a 10 percent drop. Nationwide, soybean acres are predicted to be down 11 percent total.

“ISA is not surprised by the numbers released today by the USDA,” says Kirk Leeds, chief executive officer for the Iowa Soybean Association. “Farmers will and should make decisions based on market signals and right now the market is asking for more corn.

”At the same time, soybeans have continued to see strong growth in global demand and we must aggressively seek to participate in this global growth with domestic farm policies and international trade agreements that are fair and equitable to soybeans.”

With corn prices increasingly impacted by the price of energy, farmers and the entire agriculture industry are moving into a period of growing unpredictability. Farmers are very aware that this volatility can produce opportunities for economic gain as well as opportunities for dramatic downturns. The new farm bill must recognize and respect these powerful market fluctuations.

Leeds warns that it is in the best interest of Iowa's farmers to have at least two crops competing for acres. “With the expected growth in cellulose ethanol, the current market signals for more corn acres could be relatively short term, especially when combined with the recent boom of the biodiesel industry and the global demand for vegetable oil and high quality protein sources.”