Stanly Stewart’s farm has been the family business through four generations of good years and bad years. Last year was the worst.  

After losing a large portion of his crops in the 2007 Easter freeze, this year, he’s forced to play catch up. However increasing demand for ethanol and rising fuel costs are making production more expensive at a time when choosing the right crops in the right moderation will be essential to a successful yield.

“It’s going to take an exceptionally good year to make up for last year,” he said.

Fuel prices and the demand for ethanol are the reason prices have gone up, Jim Carpenter, a livestock agent with the Catawba County Extension Service, said.  The booming ethanol business, which turns the crop into fuel, has demanded increased corn production and pushed up the prices.

However, selling prices are going up along with the production costs and food prices are increasing with it.

The increase doesn’t just hit farmers, though, it will also hit consumers in the grocery stores, since many foods and products are produced using corn.

Since last year, the price of corn has doubled from $3 per bushel of 56 pounds to $6, according to Carpenter.  And he said if corn prices go up, the other feed crops do, too, since corn drives the market.  Meanwhile soybeans prices have increased from $6 to $13 per bushel of 60 pounds.

Corn planting is expected to remain at historically high levels, but may go down this year due to the high expense in growing the crop, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.  Meanwhile, favorable prices for other crops, such as soybeans have led many farmers to switch.  Soybean planting is expected to increase by 18 percent this year in the U.S. with almost 75 million acres.

The USDA is also predicting the nation’s farmers to plant 86 million acres of corn, an 8 percent drop from last year.

In Catawba County there is typically about 2,600 acres of corn planted for grain or silage and 6,000 acres of soybeans, according to 2006 U.S. Census.  The most recent farm statistics indicate Catawba County has 715 farms with a combined total of 78,516 acres.

Carpenter said as gas climbs closer to $4 a gallon, the prices of crops and foods are impacted since farmers have to pay more to operate their gas-powered machinery and transport the crops to be sold.

Corn also requires a lot more fertilizer. Stewart said it costs more to plant corn than soybeans because corn demands more nitrogen-rich fertilizer, whereas soybeans produce nitrogen.

Stewart said the price of nitrogen fertilizer has almost doubled from its price of $210 per ton last year to $375 per ton.

“Corn is a bigger risk, but it’s a bigger pay off,” Stewart said.

Corn requires significantly more moisture than soybeans.  If rain doesn’t come during critical times, it can destroy the crop, Carpenter explained.  He said soybeans tend to be a lot more forgiving.

Although corn is more expensive to grow and more vulnerable to weather, Stewart said an acre of corn can yield almost 100 more bushels than an acre of soybeans.

Despite an ongoing drought and increasing production costs, Stewart is plans to plant about 350-375 acres of corn beginning next week followed by another 250 acres of soybeans in June.

Last year, the family operated farm averaged 65-70 bushels per acre of corn, about half the normal yield.  The soybean yield was reduced by one-third with an average of 12 bushels per acre.

“We can’t afford another disaster,” Stewart said.