US farmers to plant less corn, more soybean - USDA

31 March 2009 16:46  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--US farmers intend to plant 85m acres (34m ha) of corn in 2009, down 1% from last year as lower corn prices and unstable input costs discouraged some growers from planting the grain, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said Tuesday.

The USDA’s annual Prospective Plantings Report indicated that there would be no big surprises for the fertilizer industry and other crop input suppliers in 2009.

If planted, 2009's acres would be the second consecutive year-over-year decrease since 2007. However, this year's plantings 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 collectively intend to plant 66.3m acres, up slightly from the 66.1m acres planted last year.

Soybean producers intend to plant 76m acres in 2009, up slightly from last year, the USDA said. If planted, this year's soybean crop would be the largest on record.

Acreage increases of 100,000 acres or more were expected in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota and Ohio.

The largest decreases were expected in Missouri and South Dakota, both 150,000 acres less than 2008.

Wheat acreage is expected to be 58.6m acres, down 7% from 2008.

The 2009 winter wheat planted area, at 42.9m acres, is 7% below last year but up 2% from the previous estimate.

The USDA will report actual planted area on 30 June.

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By: Frank Zaworski
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