Prospective corn planted acres hit 95.3 million

The big number in the corn market last week was 95.3 million, after NASS (the National Agricultural Statistics Service) told traders and producers that, according to a survey conducted in February and March, this was how many corn acres farmers were planning on seeding in the 2025 season.

While slightly larger than the trade had expected, the number wasn't larger than what many had feared, as talks of 96 million to 97 million acres were common in the weeks ahead of the data's release. For this reason, the market reaction was fairly docile even though the estimate was still the fourth highest for March ever released.

However, there are several reasons to believe this number may not grow much from here, which we will look at this...