A University of Missouri think tank says the season-average price for this year’s soybean crop, forecast at a record 4.381 billion bushels, will fall to $9.07 a bushel. The 43-cent a bushel drop from the average price paid for the 2016 crop will encourage growers to plant somewhat fewer acres of soybeans and more acres of corn in 2018, says the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute.
While soybean prices would recover thanks to smaller U.S. plantings, FAPRI said corn and wheat prices would remain comparatively low. “Continued large world grain production and stocks limit the price recovery” for corn, it said, projecting prices below $3.80 a bushel for the next five years. Wheat prices will improve a bit from current levels but stay below $5 a bushel through summer 2020.
Consumer food prices will rise by 1 percent this year, a barely noticeable increase and well below the average increase of 2.5 percent a year. The USDA has forecast food inflation at 1.5 percent this year. Large U.S. meat and dairy production will hold down retail food prices, said FAPRI.