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Soybeans to “fill the gaps” as U.S. planting decisions largely locked in

An ag economist with University of Missouri Extension says more soybean acres are expected to be planted in the United States this spring.

Ben Brown tells Brownfield…

“We’ll see a shift in acres towards some of our corn, cotton and rice type programs. That was just the momentum heading into the year and I think we’ll see relatively high levels of those crops planted. They might be down some from last year, but still relatively high levels. Soybeans will likely fill in the gaps.”

More details will be known in the USDA’s Prospective Plantings report, released later this month. Brown says the report is expected to be highly scrutinized this year with the recent U.S. and Iran conflict.

However, he says many Missouri farmers already have spring fertilizer applied.

“You’re not going to take an anhydrous applied acre and shift that at this point. In Missouri, I think a lot of our acres, the fertilizer has been applied, those are committed to corn, unless the weather says farmers can’t plant.”

He says any major acreage change is expected to be regional, likely in the Northern Plains or Eastern Corn Belt.

“They’re relatively behind where the Western Corn Belt is on planting prep and they were talking about some acreage shifting,” he says. “It also applies in the Dakotas where acres might not be as locked in.”

The USDA’s Prospective Plantings report will be released on Tuesday, March 31.