plantings

Analysts generally expect USDA to report record-large soybean plantings and sizable corn planting in its Acreage report on Monday.

U.S. farmers said they would plant a record 81.5 million acres of soybeans this spring, putting within reach a record crop that would ease high prices and the tightest supplies in decades.

With a wet and cool spring in the Farm Belt, "it would not be surprising for (corn) acreage to fall short of intentions, particularly in northern growing areas," says economist Darrel Good of U-Illinois at farmdocdaily, unless corn prices improve.

Cold, wet weather is holding the spring planting season to a slow start, says the weeklyCrop Progress report from USDA. At the start of this week, 6 pct of corn was planted in the major states vs the usual 22 pct.

Nothing says spring planting like snowfall across the upper Midwest in mid-April, does it? Up to five inches of snow fell in north central Wisconsin on Monday with forecasts of an inch or two of snow today in Detroit and Toledo.

U.S. farmers intend to plant more land to soybeans and less to corn than traders expected, the Agriculture Department said, based on a survey of 84,000 growers nationwide.

1. Environmental Working Group produces a GMO-free food guide. In a nutshell, it says, buy organic or verified GMO-free foods and steer away from food made with corn, soybeans, sugar and vegetable oils because most of the US supply comes from biotech crops.