The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) on Sept. 1 announced that it will review planted and harvested acreage figures for corn, soybeans, cotton, peanuts, rice, sorghum, and sugar beets in preparation for the next Crop Production report, which will be published on Sept. 10.
The move is unusual, with NASS noting that it normally updates acreage figures only for cotton, peanuts, and rice in September, with updates for corn, sorghum, soybeans, and sugar beets taking place in October. “However, the data are sufficiently complete this year to consider adjustment in September,” NASS said.
NASS said it will review “all available data” for the September report, “including survey data, satellite-based data, and the latest information from USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) and Risk Management Agency.” If the data review justifies any changes, NASS said it will publish updated planted and harvested acreage estimates in the Sept. 10 report.
Several analysts said the change suggests a possible increase in the last corn acreage estimate published in June, based on FSA’s August data, with modest acreage reductions possible for cotton and soybeans. USDA’s June 30 Acreage report (GM July 2, p. 1) said U.S. corn growers planted 92.7 million acres of corn this year, up from the March 31 Prospective Plantings estimate of 91.1 million acres, but below analyst projections.r.
Planted soybean acreage was estimated at 87.6 million acres in the June report, unchanged from the March Prospective Plantings projection, but up five percent from last year.