The race for acres continues to intensify in North Dakota and around the country.

Grain buyers are now upping the anti with better and more lucrative contracts for oh-eight growing season hoping to entice farmers to seed their needed commodity.

(Mike Krueger, Grain Marketing Advisor) "We've been telling our producers, you know what? Price for every commodity are great this year with the exception of a few commodities. So maybe it's the year where you pick the crop that you can produce the best of all of them. And secondly if you've got rotaitonal issues that you need to clean up, you know you've been planting one crop for too many years that you need to get straightened out."


Krueger was in Minot Tuesday talking with farmers, says grain stocks are at record lows right now and there is very little grain left in farmers bins for buyers to purchase.

Because of the call for Corn across the country to feed the ethanol boom and more biodiesel plants calling for Soybeans and Canola other processors and buyers are racing to keep their needed acres.

(Mike Krueger, Grain Marketing Advisor) "Eventually a third of our corn crop is going into ethanol where five years ago you know barely five percent went into ethanol. Now the new energy bill is mandating that we're going to use up to a third of the vegetable oil in this country in biodiesel."


And the contracts have producers paying close attention.

Dakota Pasta Growers out of Carrington are offering an 11 dollar new crop contract for durum with an act of god clause.

SunPrairie in Minot is optioning new crop nusun sunflowers at 18.90 with an act of god clause.

And ADM Velva is contracting new crop Canola at 23.80 with an act of god clause.

These three are just a few of many ranging from barley to corn that farmer have to consider

Many are weighing the costs of inputs versus the new crops contracts and are holding out until February until the Insurance numbers come out so they can make their final decisions.

(Mike Krueger, Grain Marketing Advisor) "And it may not stay at these lefty all-time highs forever but I do think prices are going to be good for the next two or thee years. I think the energy bill pretty much mandates that prices are going to have to stay pretty solid because all of these crops are going to compete for acres."


Krueger says because farmers are holding out to make their planting decisions many buyers are beefing up their new crop contracts and banking that they'll have the acre they need to process come fall.

With Your Eye On Agriculture, Shaun Sipma KX News. watch the video | save this article / add to your favorites list