In its Prospective Plantings report, USDA says, driven by favorable prices, U.S. farmers intend to plant 95.9 million acres of corn in 2012, up four percent from 2011. If realized, this will be the largest corn acreage in the United States since 1937, when producers planted 97.2 million acres of corn. The Prospective Plantings report provides the first official, survey based estimates of U.S. farmers’ 2012 planting intentions.

Farmers in Iowa, the top U.S. corn-growing state, intend to set a new record for the state by planting 14.6 million acres, up four percent from 2011. Growers in Idaho, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota also intend to plant record-high acreages. The largest year-over-year increase is expected in North Dakota, where farmers are recovering from last year’s floods.

At the same time, U.S. soybean growers intend to plant 73.9 million acres in 2012, down one percent from last year. Affected by the drought conditions that have continued from last year, Texas and Oklahoma farmers plan significant reductions in soybean acreage, expecting to dedicate 24 and 15 percent fewer acres respectively to the crop this year. On the other side of the coin, farmers in New York and North Dakota are expected to set new records.

Also affected by difficult weather conditions, the expected cotton area this year is 13.2 million acres, down 11 percent from last year. Heavy precipitation in the Delta Region has already delayed fieldwork in some areas. A mild winter in some cotton-growing states also has producers bracing for potentially higher than normal insect and weed pressure this year.

Courtesy: NAFB News