DENVER, COLORADO, US — Corn acres in the United States are expected to expand this spring, pulling acreage away from soybeans, spring wheat, sorghum and other crops, a new report from CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange predicted.

With corn prices on the rise, buoyed by tight global stocks, strong export demand and record ethanol production, corn acres are expected to climb 4.2% in 2025 to 94.6 million, according to the CoBank report released on Feb. 20. Profitable feeding margins in the livestock and poultry sectors also are supporting corn demand, CoBank said.

“While farmers tend to stick to historical crop rotations for agronomic reasons and market diversification, corn’s price rally relative to other crops suggests a major shift in acreage is in the offing,” said Tanner Ehmke, grains and oilseeds economist with CoBank. “We’re still several weeks away from the start of planting season, which means the acreage balance is still in flux. Multiple factors could shift how acres are traded around the US, but the current price environment suggests corn will be king in 2025.”

Notably, low hay prices are expected to shift acres out of corn harvested for silage to corn harvested for grain, raising the corn-for-grain harvested acreage by 5% to 87 million, Ehmke said.

One caveat to the prediction is the potential for trade wars with key export markets, the report said. Trade disputes with Canada and Mexico, which have been simmering, could significantly weaken the demand for US corn and curb the increase in planted acreage. CoBank noted that a trade war with Canada may throttle exports of US ethanol, while a disruption to the Mexican market could severely impact US corn exports.

CoBank projected a significant drop in soybean planted area this spring, with acreage falling 3.6% to 84 million. It said the loss “will be somewhat blunted by last fall’s expansion of winter wheat acres, which will create more opportunity for farmers to double-crop soybeans following the winter wheat harvest.”

US winter wheat acreage was tallied at 34.12 million acres, up 2.1%, according to the US Department of Agriculture. The potential for tariffs on used cooking oil imports from China and canola oil from Canada would lift demand for soybean oil and encourage farmers to hold on to soybean acres, CoBank said.

Spring wheat acres in the Northern Plains are expected to fall 5.9% to 10 million, CoBank said, as wheat prices continue to struggle from a strong dollar and greater US supply following last year’s big harvest. CoBank predicted that most of the reduction in spring wheat acres “will go to corn, but soybeans also stand to gain some wheat acres. However, the potential for weather-related wheat crop losses in Russia combined with losses to the US winter wheat crop could quickly change the market dynamics and limit the loss of spring wheat acres.”

Sorghum acres are expected to drop 9.5% to 5.7 million due to the lack of export demand, CoBank said, noting that the loss of Chinese demand, which typically accounts for 90% to 95% of US sorghum exports, has pulled cash sorghum prices well below corn prices on the Plains. Low prices are prompting livestock feeders to include more sorghum into feed rations and ethanol plants are using more sorghum for ethanol production, bolstering US demand, the report said.