As far away as it sounds, decisions regarding the 2027 growing season will need to be made soon. Seed companies will start holding field days in August, and they will be taking early seed orders that offer discounts to farmers.
Accompanying these input choices are matching chemical and fertilizer plans.
So, will matters improve from where they stand in 2026?
“Looking at price versus profit, there doesn't seem to be a lot of opportunities in the short term for price [improvement],” Gretchen Kuck, a National Corn Growers Association economist, said to agricultural journalists attending this year’s North American Agricultural Journalists annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
Bright spots exist.
“Trade has been a really big, bright success story for us that we're hoping to maintain,” Kuck said. “We’re hoping that [a move toward] E15 [a fuel blend of 85% gasoline and 15% ethanol] will provide some leverage and some certainty.”
In the end, however, farmers will need to make some difficult decisions, particularly if input prices stay high, Kuck added.
USDA’s projected plantings of 95.3 million corn acres beat pre-report industry estimates. Still, high fertilizer prices that stick for this year could drive more farmers to plant soybeans in 2027, said John Newton, vice president of public policy and economic analysis for the American Farm Bureau Federation.
As in 2026, though, this could hinge on soybean exports to China. If that export potential dims, it could create a scenario with a 1 billion-bushel carryover of soybeans heading into 2027, akin to what happened in 2018 and 2019, Newton said.
What saved the day back then were millions of acres prevented from planting that sliced inventories. China also started buying — in a big way — grain, oilseeds and dairy products that further helped reduce stockpiles. Had that not happened, an even more adverse price environment would have resulted, Newton said.
2026 weather, though, could flip the current scenario. In mid-April, the U.S. Drought Monitor showed drought occurring in the southeastern and western U.S.
Drought is probably the last thing on the minds of farmers, especially after enduring rampant mid-April rainfall in areas such as central Iowa. If drought spreads to other areas, however, it could crimp 2026 crop supplies and change the 2027 commodity price picture.
“So, you never know what's going to happen,” Newton said.