As Farmers Continue to Grow More Corn, Industry Leaders Warn of an Economic Crisis Without New Markets

By Rachel Cramer

Corn production in Iowa and the U.S. has been on an upward trajectory for decades and hit a record high in 2025.

But a new study prepared for the Iowa Corn Growers Association and Iowa Renewable Fuels Association predicts a growing gap between supply and demand over the next decade, which could continue to drag down corn prices.

Farmers need new and expanded markets for corn and ethanol to stay profitable, according to the study and industry leaders who spoke on a press call Wednesday.

“The bottom line is: We have high input prices, we have low commodity prices and we’re producing more corn all the time. We need more places to move our corn,” said Mark Mueller, president of Iowa Corn Growers Association.

Mueller, a fourth-generation farmer who grows corn, soybeans and alfalfa in northeast Iowa, said he’s worried low profitability will hinder the fifth generation from farming on his family’s land. Corn prices and input costs rose in 2020 and 2021, but inputs remained high while corn prices fell, he said.

Mueller said his farm’s operating loan has been renewed for another year, but that’s not the case for other farmers in the region.