According to the USDA’s Prospective Planting Report released on Thursday, U.S. farmers are expected to plant 90 million acres of corn, a decrease of five percent, and 86.5 million acres of soybeans, an increase of three percent over last year.
The report marks the first official estimates of crop intentions for the 2024 planting season.
Analysts like Todd Davis, the chief economist for the Indiana Farm Bureau, said the estimate was about 2 million acres of corn less than what the marked was anticipating.
“So, as a response, the market viewed that favorably because they didn't want to see as many acres of corn, (because) we were rebuilding stocks, and so prices increased,“ he said.
In Indiana specifically, farmers said they expect to plant 5.1 million corn acres (down by 350,000), and 5.75 million soybean acres (an increase of 250,000) in 2024.
According to Davis, the market was prepared for reduced corn acreage this year due to the large harvest in 2023 causing a decrease in the crop’s profitability. But these are just predictions; and as any farmer will tell you, mother nature will have the final say in how much gets harvested come autumn.
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Categories: Indiana, Crops, Corn, Soybeans, Government & Policy