Farmers in the U.S. are responding to global food demands and planning their harvests accordingly. The U.S. Agriculture Department released a report that says farmers will plant more soybean crops and reduce the amount of corn grown this year in a move that is expected to improve the massive global shortage of cooking oil that has had a negative impact on poor countries.

Approximately 74.8 million acres of soybeans will be planted this year, an increase of 18 per cent from last year, while corn will be decreased by eight per cent from last year, with 86 million acres to be planted. The cost of corn will likely skyrocket due to the reduction in the number of crops planted. Corn has a high demand because of its use in animal feed and in the production of ethanol as an alternative fuel source. Meat prices are also likely to go up for that reason. Farmers have been forced to defend themselves after facing accusations they were benefitting financially from higher food prices, insisting that the cost of fuel has left them no choice.

In another report, the department also noted that there is much at stake regarding this year's harvests.

“We’re hoping for good yields,” said David Orden, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington. “If we get bad yields and tight commodity markets are pushed even tighter, we’ll get food prices skyrocketing, inflationary pressures and food riots in developing countries, and countries cutting off their exports.”

Experts expect that there will be a shift again next year, with farmers favoring corn growth rather than soybeans.

» The New York Times