Before the 1996 Farm Bill, Duane Keller was what you would call
a corn man. “I was 100% corn,” the Aurora, NE, grower says. But
no more. Keller is one of several growers planting more
soybeans. Beginning shortly after the implementation of the 1996
Farm Bill, Keller has gradually shifted to more soybeans — to
the point that this spring he will plant slightly more beans
than corn. During a time when U.S. soybean acres have lost
ground to corn most years, Nebraska acres have done just the
opposite. What's caused this? “Primarily, a response at the time
to the 1996 farm program, Freedom to Farm,” says University of
Nebraska economist Douglas Jose. “Without the planted acreage
requirements, there was a shift to more rotation planting,
primarily a 50-50 corn/soybean rotation,” he says. Keller, who
irrigates his crops, agrees that prior to the 1996 Farm Bill, “I
planted for the farm program because of my corn base.” He
couldn't afford to jeopardize his government payments, which
were based on planting his base acre