March 19, 2007

Informa pegs US 2007/08 corn acres at 87.834 million tonnes

Private analytical firm Informa Economics estimated 2007/08 US planted corn acreage at 87.834 million acres, up from the 85.612 million acres it estimated in January, traders said.

Informa also estimated 2007/08 US soybean acreage at 70.384 million acres, down from the 70.878 million acres it estimated in January.

At its recent Outlook Forum, the US Department of Agriculture estimated 2007/08 planted corn acreage at 87 million acres and soybean planted acreage at 70.5 million acres.

US corn planted acreage in 2006 was 78.327 million acres, according to the US Department of Agriculture, with US soybean acreage at 75.522 million.

Informa estimated 2007/08 all-US-wheat planted acreage at 59.810 million acres, up from the 57.344 million planted by US farmers last year. All US winter wheat planted acreage is estimated at 44.089 million acres compared with 40.575 million acres in 2006. US 2007 spring wheat planted acreage is estimated at 14.001 million acres versus the 14.899 million planted in 2006. US 2007 durum wheat planted acreage is forecast at 1.720 million acres, below the 1.870 million planted in 2006.

On March 30, the USDA is scheduled to release the prospective plantings report for the 2007/08 marketing year.