Generally, the growth of the ethanol industry likely will reduce the amount of corn available for exports or livestock feed. However, the higher corn prices may be negative for some of the livestock producers that will have to bid for corn against ethanol plants and foreign exports. The question for the industry is how many more acres will switch to corn on corn from a traditional 50/50 corn/soybean rotation. Another change in the building of ethanol plants that could affect Midwest...

As ethanol plants sprout up around the state, and farmers shift their crops to feed them, Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom says growers should get part of the action. Odom says the corn crop has increased to 700-thousand acres, primarily to supply ethanol plants. He says other unlikely crops -- fiber-producing plants such as high-fiber sugarcane and switchgrass --- are going to become increasingly popular, because as corn prices rise, fiber becomes more affordable as an ethanol feedstock....

The corn market is trading the weather forecasts right now and when some areas didn t receive as much rain as was forecast, we saw the corn market sell off. Traders still feel that corn will get planted eventually, but the further the delays linger, the bigger the opportunity of not all the corn getting planted. Markets are very volatile and until we get some corn planted in the big producing areas, it is only going to get more volatile. Traders will be looking at the crop progress report...

Ohio farmers surveyed March 1 reported they would be planting more corn this year, taking land from soybean, winter wheat, oat, barley and hay production. Hay producers expect to harvest 1.15 million acres, down 5 percent. Here's what the National Agricultural Statistics Service office in Reynoldsburg found:

n Corn after corn takes 40 to 60 more pounds of nitrogen than corn after soybeans. n There is a reduction in yield when corn follows corn instead of soybeans. n Shifting to more corn will likely add to the time needed for planting, and that can push more acres of corn outside of the optimum planting window. n There is added risk for insect and disease problems with corn after corn, so additional pesticides and/or stacked-trait resistant hybrids may be needed. n At harvest, trucking, drying...