Concordia Parish farmers are planning to plant more grain this year and less cotton because of a demand for biofuels.

Farm consultant Cecil Parker said corn acreage in the parish is expected to increase 30 percent and milo acreage will go up 40 to 50 percent.

“Grains, right now, are shining and cotton’s kind of taking a back seat to them,” Parker said.

The Louisiana State University Agricultural Center’s parish agent Glen Daniels said 43,021.9 acres were planted in corn last year.

Daniels said he estimates 250 farmers within the parish will buy corn and milo. The reason, Daniels said, is because prices the farmers can get for their grain have increased.

“Corn has booked with the (local) grain elevators at $3.20 (a bushel), milo is close to corn prices,” Daniels said.

Daniels said wheat acreage would also increase in the parish because wheat is being booked at $4 per bushel and the average is usually about $3.50.

But as far as the non-farming consumer is concerned, Daniels said he doesn’t think there will be any effect as far as grain food prices such as cereals and bread because Louisiana produces about two percent of the nation’s grain and most is used for cattle, horse and chicken feed.

Daniels said two things are triggering the high prices of grain products.

“The use of biofuel and ethanol and the Clean Air Act, which mandates the reduction of the use of (fossil fuels) in large trucks, buses and diesel vehicles within large cities has created a demand for these crops like corn, grain sorghum (milo) and soybeans,” Daniels said.

David Yates is a farmer in Vidalia and said he plans to plant 1,000 acres in corn and milo.

Yates said he is planting corn and milo because prices are increasing, fertilizer prices are down and ethanol plants are “popping up everywhere in the Midwest.”

According to the Renewable Fuels Association’s Web site, www.ethanolrfa.org, there are currently 106 biorefineries in production in the United States and 48 biorefineries under construction.

“It’s almost like the dot com boom,” Yates said. “It seems like the public is trying to rely less on oil.”