U.S. growers are planning on planting the third largest corn acreage since 1944 according to USDA’s “Prospective Plantings” report released last week. According to the report, growers plan to plant 93.6 million acres this year which is the first increase in corn planted acreage since 2012.
Growers in 41 states plan to either maintain or increase the number of corn acres with Illinois, Iowa, Kansas and North Dakota increasing corn acreage by 400,000 or more acres this year.
Planted soybean acres this year are estimated to be at 82.2 million acres, which is a decrease of less than 1% from 2015. Louisiana, Minnesota and Mississippi growers plan to cut soybean acreage by 200,000 acres or more, while the growers in North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin plan to increase soybean acreage to record highs.
Planted wheat acres are estimated at 49.6 million acres, down 9% from 2015. Cotton acres are estimated to reach 9.56 million acres, 11% increase over last year. The USDA’s “Prospective Plantings” report is the first official survey based on estimates of U.S. farmers’ 2016 planting intentions. USDA conducted surveys of producers the first two weeks of March.
