If you’re still hedging on whether to veer off a 50-50 corn-soybean rotation in 2020, these price comparisons might help. Michael Langemeier doesn’t have a crystal ball to reveal 2020 corn and soybean prices, but he can tell you what the corn price must reach to match raising soybeans at a given price.

“We’ve estimated crop expenses and prepared budgets,” explains Langemeier, Purdue University Extension agricultural economist and associate director of the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture. “From there, it’s a matter of comparing tables, or potential soybean prices versus corn prices. The major variable is type of land, which influences expected yields.”

The tables are based on earnings per acre. Langemeier defines earnings as gross revenue minus cash expenses, depreciation and opportunity costs, which includes opportunity costs on labor and land.

First, look at the continuous corn table below. Suppose you have high-productivity land, rated at average yields of 198 bushels per acre for corn and 65 bushels per acre for soybeans.  

“Say you can lock in $9 per bushel for soybeans,” Langemeier says. “Reading across in the high-productivity land column, you would need $3.97 per bushel in continuous corn just to break even.”

On average land, you would need $4.12 per bushel for corn to break even, and on low-quality land, corn would need to sell at $4.21.

Related:What's your breakeven price for corn, beans?

“Current prices for corn and soybeans indicate soybeans would likely be more profitable than continuous corn,” he says.

Now look at the corn-soybean rotation table below. Corn yield for highly productive land is pegged at 211 bushels per acre. If soybeans are $9 per bushel, you need to sell corn at $3.65 to break even.

“Corn and soybeans are dead even in terms of which you would grow in rotation based on current prices,” Langemeier says.

“These tables based on 2020 budgets won’t make decisions for you,” he adds. “There may be other factors influencing crop mix. But they provide a starting point.”