The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates growers nationwide plan to plant about 89 million acres of soybeans in 2018, down 1 percent from 2017, according to its Planting Intentions Report released March 29.
This compares to estimated planted corn acres of 88 million, which declined by about 2 percent from 2017.
The Planting Intentions Report is based on surveys the USDA conducted in early March asking growers how many acres they plan to plant this season. A report with actual planted acres will be issued in late June.
Throughout the 13 Mid-South and South states, the combined soybean acreage is expected to decrease by less than 1 percent this year.
Compared with last year, planted acreage intentions are down or unchanged in 20 of the 31 estimating states, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. Decreases of 100,000 acres or more are anticipated in Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina and Ohio.
In its Grain Stocks Report released the same day, the USDA says soybeans stored in all positions on March 1 totaled 2.11 billion bushels, up 21 percent from March 1, 2017. Soybean stocks stored on farms are estimated at 855 million bushels, up 28 percent from a year ago.
Off-farm stocks, at 1.25 billion bushels, are up 17 percent from last March. Indicated disappearance for the December 2017 – February 2018 quarter totaled 1.05 billion bushels, down 9 percent from the same period a year earlier.
Read the complete Planting Intentions Report at USDA-NASS.
| State | 2016 acres planted | 2017 acres planted | 2018 acres planted (est.) |
| Alabama | 420,000 | 350,000 | 350,000 |
| Arkansas | 3,130,000 | 3,530,000 | 3,600,000 |
| Georgia | 260,000 | 155,000 | 160,000 |
| Kentucky | 1,780,000 | 1,950,000 | 2,000,000 |
| Louisiana | 1,230,000 | 1,270,000 | 1,320,000 |
| Mississippi | 2,040,000 | 2,190,000 | 2,200,000 |
| Missouri | 5,600,000 | 5,950,000 | 5,900,000 |
| North Carolina | 1,690,000 | 1,700,000 | 1,600,000 |
| Oklahoma | 485,000 | 655,000 | 570,000 |
| South Carolina | 420,000 | 400,000 | 380,000 |
| Tennessee | 1,660,000 | 1,690,000 | 1,600,000 |
| Texas | 165,000 | 210,000 | 160,000 |
| Virginia | 610,000 | 600,000 | 630,000 |
| Total United States | 83,433,000 | 90,142,000 | 88,982,000 |
Figures courtesy USDA-NASS