February 22, 2008

US '08 corn plantation may reach 90 million acres; soy at 71 million

The US Department of Agriculture now expects US farmers to plant 90 million acres of corn in 2008, Chief Economist Joseph Glauber said Thursday (February 21) at the annual Agricultural Outlook Forum.

The 2008-09 acreage estimates is up from the USDA's baseline projection, which was released on February 12. In the baseline projections, the USDA had estimated 2008-09 corn area at 88 million acres.

The 2008-09 crop size, however, is down from last year when US farmers planted 93.6 million acres to corn.

Glauber also said ethanol production will continue to expand while at the same time corn production is going to be down from last year.

That scenario is going to push corn prices very high, he said.

Total US acreage for the eight major field crops is going to increase by 6.8 million acres, Glauber said.

On the other hand, US soy planted area is expected to reach 71 million acres in 2008, said Glauber.

The 2008-09 acreage estimates is up from a year ago, when 63.7 million acres were seeded to soy, but unchanged from the USDA's baseline projection.