USDA’s March 28 Prospective Plantings reports says U.S. corn growers intend to plant 97.3 million acres of corn for all purposes in 2013, up slightly from last year and 6 percent higher than in 2011. If realized, USDA said this will represent the highest planted acreage in the U.S. since 1936, when an estimated 102 million acres were planted.
The projection is also up from USDA’s last official estimate in late February, which pegged the 2013 U.S. corn crop at 96.5 million acres.
USDA estimated the soybean planted area for 2013 at 77.1 million acres, down slightly from last year but the fourth highest on record, if realized. The projection is down slightly from USDA’s February estimate of a 77.5 million-acre soybean crop in 2013.
Compared with 2012, USDA predicted that planted soybean area will be down across the Great Plains with the exception of North Dakota. Nebraska and Minnesota are expecting the largest declines compared with last year, USDA reported, while Illinois and North Dakota are expecting the largest increases.
All wheat planted area for 2013 is estimated at 56.4 million acres, up 1 percent from 2012 and up slightly from USDA’s February estimate of 56 million acres. USDA estimated the 2013 winter wheat planted area at 42.0 million acres, 2 percent above last year and up slightly from the previous estimate. Of this total, about 28.9 million acres are Hard Red Winter, 9.67 million acres are Soft Red Winter, and 3.39 million acres are White Winter.
Area planted to other spring wheat for 2013 is expected to reach 12.7 million acres, up 3 percent from 2012. Of this total, about 12.1 million acres are Hard Red Spring wheat. The intended Durum planted area for 2013 is estimated at 1.75 million acres, down 18 percent from 2012.
USDA said all cotton planted area for 2013 is expected to total 10.0 million acres, down 19 percent from last year. Upland cotton area is expected to total 9.82 million acres, down 19 percent from 2012, while American Pima area is expected to total 206,000 acres, down 14 percent from 2012.