July 1, 2009

Highest US soy acres seen this year

US farmers are planting more soy than they ever have before, the US Department of Agriculture said Tuesday (June 30) in its annual acreage report.

"Tight soy supplies and high prices" are behind the spurt in planting growth, the USDA said. Planting records are being broken in Kansas, New York, North Dakota and Pennsylvania.

The new forecast for soy planting this year is 77.483 million acres, the USDA said Tuesday. That's up from 75.718 million in 2008. The new 2009 forecast is also up from a March prediction of 76.024 million acres.

The new USDA forecast came as no surprise to some analysts who were expecting an increase. Estimates from 18 analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires ranged between 75.300 million and 79.631 million acres.

"Growers in the 11 major soy-producing states (Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio and South Dakota) planted 61.5 million acres, up 2 percent from 2008," the USDA said. "Compared with last year, the largest increase is in Kansas, up 300,000 acres."

Nebraska, though, is one state that is not planting more soy this year, the USDA said. "The largest decrease (from last year) is in Nebraska, down 400,000 acres from 2008, as many farmers switched to corn this year."