July 1, 2008

USDA forecasts 9-percent drop in US corn production, flood damage undetermined  

US farmers are now expected to harvest 78.9 million acres of corn this year, about a 9-percent drop from 2007, although a new survey will be needed to judge the full extent of recent flooding in the Midwest, the USDA said Monday (June 30, 2008) in its June Acreage report.

"Extensive rains and flooding during June caused producers in several Midwestern states to change their harvesting intentions for crops already planted, modify planting decisions for small percentage of acres not yet planted and consider replanting options," USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service said in the report.

The USDA agency collected most of the data for Monday's report before most of the Midwest flooding. NASS did do a limited follow-up survey in flooded states for three days last week, but said it will need to "conduct a more extensive acreage update survey during July." Findings from that July follow-up survey will be released in August.

The newly updated USDA forecast says farmers planted 87.3 million acres of corn in 2008 and that is up from a March forecast of 86 million, according to the USDA report.

Farmers will be harvesting less of the corn planted, though, because of the June flooding, the USDA said. At first NASS officials said farmers intended to harvest 92.4 percent of the corn they planted this year, but after the three-day follow-up survey last week, that percentage dropped to 90.4 percent.

The short, three-day follow-up survey included about 1,200 farmers in flooded states. The planned July follow-up survey will include about 9,000 farmers, a USDA official said Monday.