March 28, 2008

 

USDA sees decrease in corn seeding for 2008

 

 

The USDA is expected to report a moderate decrease in 2008 corn seedings from 2007 plantings, the report scheduled to be released on Monday.

 

US analysts will also be looking at second-quarter usage to indicate whether high prices have affected US domestic demand as of March 1.

 

The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires puts corn acreage at 87.4 million acres, down 6.21 million acres from 2007 seedings of 93.6 million.

 

The range of estimates from the 22 analysts surveyed ranged from 85.7 million to 89.75 million acres.

 

The USDA is projected to report corn stocks at 7.076 billion bushels in its quarterly Grain Stocks report.

 

The average estimate of the analysts puts corn usage in the second quarter of the 2007-08 marketing year at around 3.19 billion bushels, bringing stocks down to 7.076 billion bushels.

 

Estimates ranged from 6.950 billion to 7.254 billion. Stocks as of December 1 totaled 10.269 billion.

 

Corn area could fall in 2008 due to last winter's high soy prices, the high cost of inputs and producers' desire to return to previous crop rotations, said Jerry Gidel, an analyst at North America Risk Management Services in Chicago.  

 

The decline in corn acres can be attributed to three factors, the first of which is rotational, said Mike Zuzolo, an analyst at Risk Management Commodities in Lafayette, Ind.

 

The second factor is high fertilizer input costs, and the third is lost acres to spring wheat in the northern Plains, because producers that didn't apply fall nitrogen will look to plant wheat on corn stalks, Zuzolo said.