Looking ahead to 2019/20 corn, the consensus is U.S. acreage will increase, but the extent of the increase is a hot topic right now. A recent survey of growers conducted by Farm Futures puts new-crop corn acreage at 90.3 million acres, up just over 1 percent from this season. Sometimes growers initially undersell corn planting intentions, however. Some market analysts are forecasting larger increases in corn acreage, between 2.5 and 3.5 million acres more.

The Farm Futures survey put U.S. 2019/20 soybean acreage at 84.6 million acres, down almost 6 percent from this season. Resolution to the U.S.-China trade dispute seems far off, but even if differences were ironed out tomorrow, China has proved it can look elsewhere for soybeans, and U.S. growers cannot count on demand from China returning to its previous volume. There certainly remains a notable place in global market for U.S. soybeans, as poor weather in South America reminds us, but the Americas may be headed for some degree of specialization, with more corn in North America and more soybeans in South America.

U.S. corn & soybean planted acreage


Source: USDA, McKeany-Flavell
Posted by: Information Services
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