Derek Day, director of the Person County Cooperative Extension Service office said Friday, “Corn is a mighty expensive crop to grow” and Person County is not the most suitable land on which to grow it.

Day said corn acreage in the county did go up somewhat last year, when some thought the president’s push to increase ethanol use would translate into higher profits for farmers.

“But what most people don’t realize,” said Day, “is that Person is a dry county. The weather here and corn don’t mix that well.”

Corn acreage here last year, Day said, was up by “maybe 500 acres” over the previous year, and this year Day expects it to remain “about the same.”

Some of the farmers who planted corn last year, in hopes of increased profits, “had enough” of trying to deal with the crop during a drought.

And, with fertilizer prices, already at triple normal cost, going up nearly every day and diesel fuel selling at over $4 per gallon, corn is just too risky for most folks around here, Day said.

Farmers are about half way through planting corn crops, according to Day.

They began planting tobacco on Wednesday, he said, and if Sunday and Monday don’t bring excessive rains, “we’ll be in full swing by Wednesday” of next week.

He said farmers would begin planting soybeans in about two weeks.

Tobacco and bean acreage will likely be about the same as last year, Day said.

Fuel prices and the cost of fertilizer are hurting all farmers, he said.

“Diesel powers farming,” he said.

The high cost of fuel, combined with the fact that the area is still under moderate drought conditions — at about an eight inch deficit since Jan. 1, 2007 — is causing a great deal of caution on the part of Person farmers.