USDA Calls Corn Acreage Down Just One Percent

USDA’s forecast for planted acreage this spring is not very different than last year – corn down just one percent and soybeans up only slightly.

According to the Prospective Plantings report issued this morning, USDA says corn growers “intend to plant 85.0 million acres of corn for all purposes in 2009, down 1 percent from last year as lower corn prices and unstable input costs are discouraging some growers from planting corn.” That would still be the third largest acreage since 1949, behind 2007 and 2008.

Expected acreage is down from last year in many States, however, producers in the 10 major corn-producing States (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin) collectively intend to plant 66.3 million acres, up slightly from the 66.1 million acres planted last year.

Many forecasters were predicting a larger drop in corn acreage and a much bigger increase in soybeans – as much as six percent. Still, USDA is calling for 76.0 million acres of soybeans in 2009 which would be the largest on record.