US soy acres pegged at 79.4 million, corn at 87.3 million

US farmers are preparing to plant more soy than ever before this spring but have scaled back their plans from December, according to a survey released Wednesday (Mar 24) by Farm Futures magazine.

There were more than 1,050 farmers polled from March 7 to 22 for its third survey of 2010 planting intentions.

It found farmers were ready to sow 79.4 million acres of soy, down nearly 600,000 acres from the December estimate. The plantings would still represent a record and an increase of about 2.4% from 2009.

Producers are planning to seed 87.3 million acres of corn this spring, down about 2.2 million acres December estimate, according to the survey. The plantings would be up about 0.9% from 2009.

Farm Futures pegged spring wheat seedings at 13 million acres, little change from its December estimate and down about 2% from last year. Total wheat acreage would fall to 52.6 million, down 1.3 million from the magazine's December estimate and 11% from 2009, the survey said.

The USDA is due to issue its prospective plantings estimates at 8:30 a.m. EDT March 31. Corn, soy and spring wheat will be planted in the spring.