Farmers intend to increase corn plantings by 5% to 95.3 million acres, while reducing their soybean acreage by 4% to 83.5 million, USDA reported Monday.
The department’s annual survey of planting intentions also said farmers intend to cut wheat acreage by 2% to 45.4 million acres and cotton plantings by 12% to 9.87 million acres.
The expected corn acreage beat the average analyst estimate of 94.36 million acres, as reported by Reuters, but CME corn futures prices rose slightly.
Iowa, the top corn-producing state, is expected to increase its acreage by 4% to 13.5 million, while Illinois farmers are expected to plant 11.1 million, a 3% increase. Nebraska farmers are expected to increase corn plantings by 5% to 10.6 million.
It’s easy to be “in the know” about agriculture news from coast to coast! Sign up for a FREE month of Agri-Pulse news. Simply click here.
Overall, farmers are reducing their plantings of principal row crops, including canola, dry beans, potatoes, sugarbeets and sunflowers, to 309.9 million acres, down from 311.2 million in 2024 and 319.5 million in 2023. It would be the smallest expected acreage since 309.7 million in 2020.
The report is based on a survey of farmers conducted during the first two weeks of March.
For more news, go to Agri-Pulse.com.
