The USDA released the prospective planting reports this morning. The report showed plantings for corn and soybean could vary by millions of acres from last year. In addition to a chart showing today’s USDA report release, a side-by-side comparison has been included comparing the average of leading private analysis company’s estimates to the USDA survey estimates.

USDA:

Corn panted for all purposes is predicted to be 90.0 million acres, which is down 4 percent from 2016, a decrease of 4 million acres. Of the 48 states estimated 38 are expected to decrease planting of corn.

Soybean acreage estimated by the USDA is predicted to be 89.5 million acres, a 7 percent increase from last year’s 83.6-million-acre estimate. Of the 31 estimated states, 27 are up or unchanged from last year.  

Average of Private Analyst’s Estimates:

Corn is estimated to have 90.9 million acres planted in 2017. With a range of estimates going from 90 to 92.5 million acres.

Soybeans are expected to increase to 88.2 million acres. With estimates ranging from 86.4 to 89.3 million acres.

See compared acreage expectations below:

Preston Lyman is a Research Analyst with Decision Innovation Solutions (DIS). DIS is an Iowa-Based economic research firm which provides regular farm economics research and analysis to the Iowa Farm Bureau staff and members.