U.S. farmers are projected to plant 88 million acres of soybeans, up 5 percent from the record set last year, while cutting back on corn and wheat, said USDA chief economist Robert Johansson. Futures prices indicate soybeans will be more profitable than corn and wheat this year.
The spate of low commodity prices will push some land out of crops entirely, said Johansson at USDA’s annual Outlook Forum. Some 249.8 million acres will be planted to the eight major crops – corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, sorghum, barley, oats and rice – compared to 254.2 million acres a year ago.
If the projections, which assume normal weather and yields, prove true, the United States would see its second-largest soybean crop and third-largest corn crop on record. Corn and soy harvests set records in 2016. There are huge stockpiles of grains and oilseeds worldwide, holding down prices.
Along with record soybean seedings, USDA projected corn plantings of 90 million acres, down 4 percent from last year, and wheat sowings of 46 million acres, down by 8 percent. The projected soybean plantings were in line with market expectations, but lower than expected by traders for corn and wheat. USDA projected cotton plantings of 11.5 million acres, somewhat larger than the 11 million acres indicated in a survey of growers by the National Cotton Council.