USDA’s Office of the Chief Economist forecasts a sizable drop in soybean acreage. According to the agency, 2019/20 soybean planted acreage may drop 8 percent to 82.5 million acres from 89.1 million acres this year. Corn planted area, on the other hand, is expected to rise to 92.0 million acres from 89.1 million this year. Wheat could also see an increase, from 47.8 million this crop year to 51.0 million in 2019/20.

In its long-term baseline projections, USDA calculates that 2019/20 corn production could increase to 14.930 billion bushels, based on a yield of 176.5 bushel per acre (bpa) and the harvest of 92 percent of planted acreage. Soybean production could fall to 4.090 billion bushels, assuming a yield of 50 bpa and harvest of 99 percent of the planted acreage.

U.S. corn & soybean planted area history

Source: USDA OCE, McKeany-Flavell
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