March ’16 USDA Planting Intentions Acreage Report
Corn – Bearish
o The acreage projection of 93.6 million acres planted was well above the 90 million acres average estimate and would be the highest corn acreage since 2013.
o Small grains acreage (sorghum, barley, oats) moved back into corn after taking acres in 2015.
o Total principal acreage was mainly higher across the corn belt and Missouri but lower outside of that region.
o Assuming normal weather, domestic carry out is expected to expand even with growth in demand to well over 2 billion bushels or the highest since 1988.
Soybeans – Neutral
o The acreage projection of 82.2 million acres planted was below the 83.0 million acre average estimate and near the 82.7 million planted last year.
o Similar to corn, acreage was flat to higher in Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana but lower outside of the corn-belt region.
o Carryout both domestically and globally will be projected to build again on normal weather and growing conditions with US carryout nearing 600 million or the highest ever recorded.
Wheat – Bullish
o The acreage projection of 49.6 million acres planted was slightly below the 51.5 million acres average estimate and the 54.6 million planted last year.
o Acreage for wheat was lower across nearly the entire country hitting record lows in South Dakota for durum wheat.
o Carryout domestically and globally is expected to be near unchanged with average weather after a 3 year build. US carryout at 960 million bushels would still be near the highest since 1988.
Click below for a downloadable pdf of the report.
March ’16 USDA Planting Intentions Acreage Report