A new survey from the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that farmers will plant less corn and more soybeans this year, which could result in higher food prices for consumers in the near future.

Rising soybean prices, paired with increased production costs for corn, have led farmers to return back to crop rotation after back-to-back years of planting corn.

Palle Pedersen, assistant professor of agronomy, said one reason farmers are returning to crop rotation is to minimize risk.

“When you have high prices on a crop, you have a high potential to make a lot of money, but you have a high potential to lose a lot of money too. The only way to minimize risk is to rotate crops,” Pedersen said.

The predicted crop production numbers released by the Department of Agriculture have sparked talk about grocery prices and how consumers will be impacted by the shift. The 86 million acres of corn farmers are expected to produce will be an 8 percent decrease from 2007, while soybean production is expected to increase 18 percent.

Over the past few years, the production of corn has continued to rise because of the increased demand for ethanol. Additionally, corn continues to be an important component in the production of meat and milk products, leading to a rise in overall grocery costs with the increase in corn prices.

Demand for soybeans in the U.S. and overseas markets has grown as well. As crop prices increase and consumers begin to see higher food prices, many develop misconceptions about profit margins for those in the agriculture industry and, more specifically, farmers.

“Everyone expects, when you see prices doubling, that farmers are making twice as much, which isn’t so,” Pedersen said. “All the production costs have increased as well. Right now we have a competition that is a fight for acreage, and it’s all going to be about how high they can go before one crop gives up.”

Students such as James Nelson, senior in agricultural studies, are aware of both the challenges and opportunities the current market for corn and soybeans brings.

Nelson thinks people have become overly concerned about crop rotation.

“From my standpoint, everyone gets worked up about crop rotation. They see the price of corn increase, so everyone plants corn, and now this year the supply of beans was down, so they are planting beans.”

Although prices are high now, there are still concerns for the future.

“The market is unpredictable, so it’s tough,” Nelson said. “We don’t have much to complain about now because prices are high, except our input costs are high too – and there is always the fear that crop prices will go down, but input prices will stay high.”