A banner year for grain prices has U.S. farmers aiming to plant even more corn, wheat and soybeans than they did in a record 2021. But high fertilizer prices, forecasts of more wild weather and the threat that China slows its buying loom over the year ahead.
Row crops this year soared to multiyear highs amid surging global demand and inflation, and farmers are expected to increase planting to attempt to capitalize on 2021’s momentum. Research firm IHS Markit this month forecast that farmers will plant roughly 230 million acres of soybeans, wheat and corn in 2022, up 2 million acres from the past year’s record-busting levels.
