Market News

Corn and soybean planting estimates vary widely

Ahead of the USDA’s planted area update June 30th, analysts are expecting smaller corn acreage and bigger soybean acreage following a wet spring for a number of critical growing areas.

The average of analysts’ estimates for corn acreage is 84.158 million acres, down less than a million from USDA’s March guess. However, the range of estimates varies widely from a 2.5 million acre cut on the low end to a more than 1 million acre increase on the high end.

Soybean planted area is pegged at 78.305 million acres, which would be up more than 2 million from the most recent USDA estimate. That said – the range of projections for soybeans is also pretty wide from a cut of less than a million acres to a more than 3.5 million acre increase.

Spring wheat acreage is expected to be around 13.102 million acres, down modestly from the March estimate.

Quarterly stocks estimates are out as well with analysts expecting smaller supplies of corn, soybeans and wheat. Corn’s estimated at 4.190 billion bushels, soybeans are pegged at 586 million bushels and wheat stocks are seen at 670 million bushels.

The numbers are out Tuesday, June 30 at 7:30 AM Central.