Much can and will likely change between now and spring, but an early reading of the soybean-corn price ratio confirms corn may be the more popular option for farmers in 2025.
As of mid-afternoon Friday, the new-crop November 2025 soybean contract was trading around US$10.25, with December 2025 corn at $4.41. That translates into a soybean-corn price ratio of 2.32. A ratio below 2.5 typically indicates that more acreage will be devoted to corn. The current ratio also sits below the 30-year average of 2.48, potentially further incentivizing corn over soybeans.
The ratio would seem to support early baseline projections from the USDA that suggest American producers will favour corn this spring. Released earlier this month, the projections put nationwide new-crop corn planted area at 92 million acres, up 1.4% from the 90.7 million acres planted in 2024. On the other hand, soybean planted area was pegged at 85 million acres, down 2.4% from this year's acreage of 87.1 million.
Admittedly, with prices for both crops as weak as they are, producers are likely to consider many more factors than just the soybean-corn price ratio when mapping out their new-crop planting plans.
Input costs factor heavily into the decision as well, and while those costs have eased, they remain prohibitive – a factor that can undermine an input-heavy crop like corn. The previous year’s crop can impact planting decisions as well, although producers generally fared very well in terms of production and quality with both corn and soybeans in 2024. Rotational considerations loom large, and demand prospects can influence planting decisions as well.
As some producers may remember, the soybean-corn ratio hit a seven-year high in August 2023, clearly favouring the planting of soybeans over corn. That ratio moderated through the winter, but in the end American producers ended up planting almost 4 million fewer acres to corn this year than in 2023. Meanwhile, soybean planting area increased by about 3.5 million acres from a year earlier.
