More Corn and Soybean Acres Planted, Fewer Cotton

WASHINGTON, DC – USDA released their latest estimates for 2020 crop plantings in the United States with the expectation of more soybean and corn acres, while a major reduction in cotton and historically low wheat area.

In their annual Acreage Report released on Tuesday, USDA projected a 3 percent increase in corn area or 92 million acres with 84 million expected to be harvested for grain.

Soybean growers seeded 83.8 million acres in 2020, a 10 percent year over year increase. USDA also projected the smallest wheat crop since records began 101 years ago (1919), with a 2 percent decline in acres, down to 44.3 for all wheat plantings.

Cotton plantings caught traders by surprise as USDA dropped domestic plantings to 12.2 million acres, down 11 percent from 2019.

Finally, sorghum acres increased nearly 7 percent year over year with the largest acreage increases coming in Kansas, up 6 percent in the top producing state, and Texas, the second-largest producer, with almost 10 percent more planted in 2020.
(SOURCE: National Agricultural Statistics Service)