Faced with strong worldwide food demand and the accompanying higher prices, American farmers are beginning to respond to the signals of the market.

In a new government report, farmers said they would make significant cuts in corn acreage this year in favor of soybeans. Farmers said they would plant 18 percent more acres of soybeans. If they carry through with their intentions, the resulting additional soybean oil could help alleviate global shortages of cooking oil that have led to sharply higher prices, hitting poor countries hard.

But a smaller corn harvest would most likely raise prices for that crop, which could also increase the prices Americans pay for meat. Most corn is used as animal feed. Higher corn prices may also compound the difficulties of companies that use corn to produce ethanol as a motor fuel.

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