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Where did USDA find more corn acres?

The USDA has raised U.S. corn production to 17 billion bushels with a yield boost and increased harvested acres.

Garrett Toay with AgTraderTalk says the increase in harvested acres were found in the Western Corn Belt.

“If you look at where the majority of the acres came from, it was the Dakotas and Minnesota. The total principal crop between North Dakota and South Dakota had 6.1 million acres.”

Randy Martinson with Martinson Ag Risk Management is based in North Dakota. He says more corn was likely combined instead of chopped for silage this year. Martinson says the USDA also shows better corn yields in several states.

“Over in Minnesota, yields there came in up eight bushels at 201 bushels/acre. South Dakota was down a little bit, but still at 171 bushels/acre. We did see other states, like Missouri, up seven bushels to 185 bushels/acre. And some of the other far eastern areas had some pretty good yields.”

Toay says while several farmers he works with have more than half of their corn sold, he’s concerned about what this means for the New Year.

“This corn market isn’t, I don’t think it’s really going to give you much opportunity. You know, all these acres of corn are going to come back to beans in 2026 and we’re still gonna have 95 million acres of corn next year, which is still going to be a pretty big chunk.”

Toay says the focus this year will be on managing the new crop and being strategic marketing corn.

Hear Brownfield’s interview with Randy Martinson.

Hear Brownfield’s interview with Garrett Toay.