Wichita ? Ottawa County farmer John Tibbits spent his Monday morning scouring the government’s newly released spring plantings intention report.

The National Agricultural Statistics Service reported the nation’s grain growers expected to plant 8 percent fewer corn acres this season and 18 percent more soybeans.

So Tibbits decided Monday to switch his own acreage planting intentions, upping his irrigated corn acres and planting fewer soybeans.

“I’m reasonably market-friendly to the reports,” Tibbits said. “I normally take them pretty seriously.”

Mike Woolverton, grain marketing economist at Kansas State University, said Tibbits was doing the exactly right thing. Woolverton noted that continued wet weather in the Corn Belt may keep farmers there from planting their corn on time and force them to put in even more soybeans. That could force corn prices even higher.

“Kansas farmers are getting ready to plant corn, and they may be ahead of the game if they can get their seed in the ground and these guys in the Corn Belt can’t,” Woolverton said.

Rising corn prices

The report comes at a time when corn prices have skyrocketed. But nationwide the anticipated corn acreage reported Monday was down to 86 million acres. Kansas farmers plan to keep their total corn acres this season at the same level as last year’s planting of 3.9 million acres.

Kansas farmers intend to plant a record number of their acres into soybeans, a total of 3.2 million acres, or 23 percent more than last year, National Agricultural Statistics Service said.

The agency attributed the drop in corn acres in other states to favorable prices for other crops, high input costs for corn and crop rotation considerations. It noted that despite the decrease, corn acreage was expected to remain at historically high levels because the price remains strong amid the continued expansion of ethanol production.

Record soybean acreage

But the government’s planting intentions report – coupled with weather forecasts calling for cold, wet weather in big corn planting areas in Iowa and Illinois that could thwart plans – made an immediate impact on Tibbits’ intentions.

Tibbits now plans to plant 30 percent of his irrigated acres in soybeans and 70 percent in corn. He had been planning a 50-50 split. His dryland acres remain unchanged at 50 percent sorghum and 50 percent sunflowers.

Farmers in Kansas, New York and Pennsylvania are all expected to plant record soybean crops, National Agricultural Statistics Service reported. Nationwide, soybean producers expect to plant 74.8 million acres – up 18 percent from a year ago, but just slightly below the a national record in plantings for the crop.

The larger soybean acreage in Kansas comes at the expense of two other major crops: sorghum and winter wheat.

Expected sorghum plantings in Kansas were forecast at 2.7 million acres, down 4 percent from last season. Sorghum plantings nationwide were also down 4 percent to 7.4 million acres. Kansas is the nation’s biggest sorghum producer.

Kansas producers last fall planted 9.9 million acres of winter wheat for harvest this season. Winter wheat acres are down 5 percent from the 10.4 million planted the previous season.

Wheat acreage rises

Planted acreage for wheat nationwide was pegged Monday at 63.8 million acres, up 6 percent from the previous season. Kansas planted more wheat acres than any other state.

That crop was planted in the fall. The planting estimate for the nation’s winter wheat crop, the type grown in Kansas, was estimated at 46.8 million acres, up 4 percent.

The agency pegged spring-planted wheat at 14.3 million acres nationwide, up 8 percent from 2007.

Whatever crops farmers decide to ultimately plant this season, high grain prices for all the commodities forecasts an optimistic harvest.

Tibbits, for example, already bought a new planter, although he said it was due for replacement. He also plans to upgrade his irrigation equipment.

Tibbits expects to take advantage of high grain prices to help him catch up on expenses. Tibbits, 64, also hopes to make enough money this season to squirrel some away.

“It’s the first opportunity in several years to put money aside for retirement,” he said.