The government predicts U.S. farmers will increase this year’s corn crop, but it more that likely won’t be enough to stem the rise in food prices.

Farmers plan to plant 92.2 million acres of corn this spring, 5 percent more than last year, the Agriculture Department estimated Thursday. That would be the second-largest corn crop since 1944, after a record-setting planting in 2007. Yet the additional supply will not be expected to keep up with growing global demand.

Prices of corn and soybeans went up after the report as analysts warned that even with the increase in corn acreage, grain prices won’t fall back to their lower levels of six months ago. Prices will likely stay high, in part because of rising demand for grain from the U.S. ethanol industry and exports to an growing Asian middle class.

The government revealed earlier this year that corn reserves were at their lowest level in 15 years. The low surpluses are leaving markets uneasy. It means that relatively small declines in supply, from droughts and other short-term disruptions, can send prices soaring.

Grain markets analyst with Telvent DTN in Omaha, John Sanow, said that stocks are going to remain very tight.

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