USDA Reports Summary

By DTN Staff

This article was originally published at 11:03 a.m. CDT on Thursday, March 28. It was last updated with additional information at 11:17 a.m. CDT on Thursday, March 28.

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OMAHA (DTN) -- USDA sees producers planting 90.0 million acres of corn and 86.5 million acres of soybeans this year, in USDA's prospective plantings report released on Thursday.

USDA on Thursday released its Prospective Plantings and quarterly Grain Stocks reports.

Stay tuned throughout the morning and refresh this page often, as we will be sending a series of updates with the important highlights from today's reports, including commentary from our analysts.

You can also access the full reports here:

-- Prospective Plantings and Grain Stocks: https://www.nass.usda.gov

DTN Senior Analyst Todd Hultman sees USDA's planting estimates as bullish for new-crop corn, neutral for new-crop soybeans and new-crop wheat. USDA's grain stocks estimates were slightly bullish for corn, neutral for soybeans and slightly bearish for wheat, he said.

PROSPECTIVE PLANTINGS

Corn planted area in 2024 is estimated at 90.0 million acres, down 5%, or 4.61 million acres, from last year. That's far below pre-report estimates.

Compared with last year, planted acreage is expected to be down or unchanged in 38 of the 48 estimating states.

Soybean planted area for 2024 is estimated at 86.5 million acres, up 3% from last year and slightly above pre-report estimates. Compared with last year, planted acreage is up or unchanged in 24 of the 29 estimating states.

All wheat planted area for 2024 is estimated at 47.5 million acres, down 4% from 2023 for comparable states.

The 2024 winter wheat planted area, at 34.1 million acres, is down 7% from last year and down 1% from the previous estimate for comparable states.

Of this total, about 24.3 million acres are hard red winter, 6.26 million acres are soft red winter, and 3.59 million acres are white winter.

Area expected to be planted to other spring wheat for 2024 is estimated at 11.3 million acres, up 1% from 2023. Of this total, about 10.7 million acres are hard red spring wheat. Durum planted area for 2024 is expected to total 2.03 million acres, up 22% from the previous year for comparable states.

All cotton planted area for 2024 is estimated at 10.7 million acres, up 4% percent from last year. Upland area is estimated at 10.5 million acres, up 4% from 2023. American Pima area is estimated at 203,000 acres, up 38% from 2023.

On sorghum, USDA said farmers intend to plant 6.395 million acres this year, an 11% drop from last year.

QUARTERLY GRAIN STOCKS

Corn stocks in all positions on March 1, 2024, totaled 8.347 billion bushels (bb), up 13% from March 1, 2023. Of the total stocks, 5.08 billion bushels were stored on farms, up 24% from a year earlier. Off-farm stocks, at 3.268 billion bushels, were down 1% from a year ago. The December 2023-February 2024 indicated disappearance, or usage, is 3.82 billion bushels, compared with 3.42 billion bushels during the same quarter last year.

Soybeans stored in all positions on March 1, 2024, totaled 1.845 billion bushels, up 9% from March 1, 2023. Soybean stocks stored on farms are estimated at 933 million bushels, up 24% from a year ago. Off-farm stocks, at 912 million bushels, are down 3% from last March. Indicated disappearance for the December 2023-February 2024 quarter totaled 1.16 billion bushels, down 13% from the same period a year earlier.

All wheat stored in all positions on March 1, 2024, totaled 1.087 billion bushels, up 16% from a year ago. On-farm stocks are estimated at 271.9 million bushels, up 20% from last March. Off-farm stocks, at 815.5 million bushels, are up 14% from a year ago. The December 2023-February 2024 indicated disappearance is 334 million bushels, 10% below the same period a year earlier.

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Join us at 12:30 p.m. CDT on Thursday for a DTN webinar discussing USDA's latest numbers and what they mean to markets. Given the history of USDA's March-end reports, we have to warn that big price moves could follow. Replay links will be provided for viewing at your convenience. Register now at: https://ag.dtn.com/…

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