The USDA’s June 30 Acreage Report pegged planted corn acreage in the U.S. at 89.9 million acres this year, up slightly from the 89.5 million acres projected in the March 31 Prospective Plantings report (GM April 1, p. 1) but down 4%, or 3.44 million acres, from last year.

The slight uptick in corn acreage came at the expense of soybeans. Soybean planted area for 2022 was estimated at 88.3 million acres, down sharply from the March Prospective Plantings estimate of 91.0 million acres, but up 1% from last year and still the third largest crop on record.

Compared with last year, USDA said planted soybean acreage is up or unchanged in 24 of the 29 reporting states, while planted corn acreage is down or unchanged in 35 of the 48 reporting states. States including Minnesota and Wisconsin saw robust jumps in corn acres versus the intended planting estimates from March, but North Dakota had a 17% drop in planned acreage due to wet weather during planting.

Chicago corn fell to its lowest level since early February after the report’s release, Bloomberg reported. Most-active corn ended the day down 5.2% at $6.1975 a bushel, with the futures ending June with their steepest monthly decline since 2011. Soybeans settled 1.4% lower at $14.58 a bushel, its biggest monthly drop in four years, Bloomberg reported.

All wheat planted area for 2022 was estimated at 47.1 million acres, down from the March estimate of 47.4 million acres, but up 1% from 2021. If realized, USDA said this represents the fifth lowest all wheat planted area since records began in 1919. All cotton planted area for 2022 was estimated at 12.5 million acres, up 11% from last year and also rising from the March estimate of 12.2 million acres.

USDA signaled that more revisions may be coming later in the season. In a special note within the report, it said some farmers turned in surveys even though planting wasn’t completed by mid-June. The agency said it is collecting additional data on crops – including corn, soybeans, wheat, and canola – that will be published in August.

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) also released its quarterly Grain Stocks report on June 30. Corn stocks as of June 1, 2022, totaled 4.35 billion bushels, up 6% from the same time last year; soybeans stored totaled 971 million bushels, up 26% from last year; and all wheat stored totaled 660 million bushels, down 22% from a year ago.

The wheat stockpiles estimate was higher than the Bloomberg survey’s average of 655 million bushels. Soybean and corn quarterly stocks came in a tad higher than expected as well. Chicago wheat futures for September tumbled 4.9% to $8.84 a bushel, Bloomberg reported, the lowest since late February.

The U.S. Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision has restricted the U.S. EPA’s authority to curb greenhouse gases from power plants, siding with coal-mining companies and Republican-led states in a blow to President Joe Biden’s climate-change agenda.

Writing for the court, Chief Justice John Roberts said Congress needs to speak more explicitly to give an agency that much power. “A decision of such magnitude and consequence rests with Congress itself, or an agency acting pursuant to a clear delegation from that representative body.”

The ruling casts fresh doubt on Biden’s pledge to reduce U.S. emissions in half by the end of the decade and his goal of a carbon-free electric grid by 2035. Hitting those targets will be impossible without regulations to stifle greenhouse gases from oil wells, automobiles, and power plants, as well as tax incentives designed to spur clean energy, according to several analyses.

A White House spokesperson characterized the ruling as a devastating decision that damages the administration’s ability to address climate change. The White House also called on Congress to act, something the high court decision left as a possibility.

Roberts pointed to a “major questions” doctrine, saying “we presume that Congress intends to make major policy decisions itself, not leave those decisions to agencies.” However, in the past, the court has opted for the Chevron doctrine, which says courts must defer to agencies’ reasonable interpretation of laws passed by Congress.

Under Chevron rules, the court could have said that, since Congress’s grant of statutory authority to EPA was ambiguous, it would allow the EPA regulation applying that grant to stand.

The court’s reasoning could spur challenges to other federal regulations, from EPA automobile emissions curbs to vaccine mandates from the Centers for Disease Control, particularly when issues of congressional authorization are involved.

The court’s three Democratic-appointed justices – Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan – blasted the ruling. In a dissent by Justice Kagan, she said, “The Court appoints itself – instead of Congress or the expert agency – the decision maker on climate policy. I cannot think of many things more frightening.”