USDA Forecasts Increase in Corn Planting Area and Decrease in Wheat in the US
In the latest Prospective Plantings report released on March 31, USDA experts predict a significant increase in corn planting area and an unexpected decrease in wheat area in the US in 2025.
This is reported by AgroReview
According to the data, corn planting area is expected to rise by 5% compared to 2024, reaching 95.3 million acres (38.6 million hectares). This figure is 1% higher than the average estimate from analysts. However, soybean planting area is projected to decrease by 4% to 83.5 million acres, which is below experts’ expectations of 83.76 million acres.
Wheat Planting Area Forecast
Analysts had hoped that the decrease in soybean planting area would encourage farmers to increase wheat planting to 46.5 million acres. However, USDA experts believe that the area planted with all types of wheat will decline by 2% to 45.4 million acres, marking the second-lowest figure since 2019. Specifically, the area for winter wheat will be 33.3 million acres, which is 0.6 million acres less than analysts had expected, while spring wheat will cover 10 million acres (a decrease of 0.5 million acres), and durum wheat will be sown on 2 million acres.
Changes in Grain Stocks
The Grain Stocks report regarding quarterly grain stocks in the US indicates the following changes in the stocks of major crops as of March 1 compared to the same period last year:
- Corn: decreased by 2% to 207 million tons, in line with analysts’ estimates.
- Soybeans: increased by 4% to 52 million tons, which also confirms analysts’ forecasts.
- Wheat: increased by 14% to 33.75 million tons, which is 1.8% above analysts’ estimates.
The market reacted calmly to this data: May corn futures rose by 0.9% to $180/ton, while December futures fell by 0.1% to $174/ton. May soybean futures also decreased by 0.8% to $372.9/ton, and November futures dropped by 1% to $374.5/ton, attributed to large soybean stocks.
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