Despite a challenging planting season marked by fluctuating weather, U.S. farmers managed to plant significant amounts of corn and soybeans, according to the USDA’s June acreage report. The USDA reported that planted acreage reached 91.5 million acres for corn and 86.1 million acres for soybeans. Although the corn acreage is down 3% from last year, it exceeds the average trade estimate by over 1 million acres. Soybean acreage, on the other hand, is up 3% from the previous year.
In Illinois, farmers planted 10.9 million acres of corn this season, a decrease of 300,000 acres from last year. Conversely, soybean planting increased by 350,000 acres, totaling 10.7 million acres.
“Planted acreage surprised the corn trade,” said Karl Setzer, market analyst with Consus Ag Consulting. “The big question is how much of those acres may or may not have been lost to flooding.”
The June acreage estimates do not account for prevent plant acres. Setzer, along with Joe Camp of CommStock Investments, believes these numbers may be revised in future reports.
“It goes against our expectations of how the planting season went,” Camp told RFD Radio Network. “It’s a reminder that these acreage numbers can change significantly from now on.”
The USDA also released its quarterly stocks report, which had some bearish implications. The report estimated stocks at 4.9 billion bushels of corn, 970 million bushels of soybeans, and 702 million bushels of wheat. All three estimates were significantly higher than last year and surpassed trade expectations.
“I think the stocks numbers are more relevant to current trading rather than the acreage figures,” Setzer noted. “But I believe we’re shifting our focus back to trading weather.”
Camp also highlighted the impact of recent weather extremes on the market.
“There is a constant back-and-forth between speculators pushing the market lower and fundamentals suggesting a wait-and-see approach,” Camp added. “Speculators might view recent rains in the eastern Corn Belt as bearish, while ignoring the flooding and lost acreage in the western Corn Belt.”
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