Crop-insurance claims by farmers for prevented planting are up by 48 percent this year, said Bloomberg, a reflection of the cold and rainy spring. Growers filed claims on 2.3 million acres of corn and nearly 2.2 million acres of soybeans, said the news agency, based on its review of federal data. Analysts said crop production would be influenced by the smaller amount of land planted. The agriculture department declined to comment on Bloomberg’s estimates.
The USDA re-surveyed farmers in the western Corn Belt and southern Plains in July to get a clearer picture of plantings. As a result, it pegs soybean planting at 84.3 million acres, down 1 percent from its June figure but still a record amount of land.
Reports by farmers to USDA indicated that growers were unable to plant a total of 6.5 million acres nationwide, including 2.3 million acres of corn and 2.17 million acres of soybeans, said Agweb. “By far, Missouri was the state with the most prevented planting acres for both corn (506,039) and soybeans (1.02 million).” Growers are required as part of the farm program to report plantings to the USDA. The figures will not be complete for months to come. The department uses a broader survey of growers in making its monthly forecasts but takes the data from farmers into consideration.
“At this point, a case for a substantially lower USDA corn production forecast next month is difficult to make,” writes U-Illinois economist Darrel Good at farmdoc daily after discussing the data that farmers gave to the USDA and current crop conditions. The department estimates a corn harvest of 13.7 billion, the third-largest ever and 4 percent less than the record set last year. It forecasts a soybean crop of 3.9 billion bushels, the second-largest ever.