Ankeny, Iowa, USA
June 30, 2010

This morning the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its Annual Acreage report, the calculation of planted acres in U.S. farmland. The data, based on field surveys taken during early June, updates the USDA’s March estimates from its Prospective Plantings report.

Nationally, planted soybean acres are estimated at a record 78.9 million acres, up from 77.5 million acres in 2009 and up from the March estimate of 78.1 million acres, while corn is estimated at 87.9 million acres, up from 86.5 million acres last year but down from the March estimate of 88.8 million acres.

For Iowa, planted soybean acres are estimated at 10.2 million acres, up 600,000 from 9.6 million acres in 2009, and 300,000 more than the 9.9 million projected in March. Iowa’s planted corn acres are estimated at 13.3 million, down 400,000 acres from 13.7 million in 2009, and 200,000 less than the March projection of 13.5 million.

Meanwhile, the USDA Grain Stocks reported soybean stocks of 571 million bushels, compared to an estimated average of 592 million, and corn stocks of 4,310 million bushels, compared to an estimate of 4,613 million bushels.

Opening calls for both soybeans and corn were up 15-20 and 15-25 cents respectively.
Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) President Delbert Christensen responded to today’s report.

“We are not surprised by the increase in soybean acres,” Christensen said. “We are a little skeptical whether all those acres will be there at harvest, as a result of weather issues. We continue to be encouraged by the strong demand, as indicated by the Stocks report. As of June 30, grain stocks show demand has continued to exceed expectations.”

To learn more about ISA, visit its Web site at www.iasoybeans.com.

The Iowa Soybean Association develops policies and programs that help farmers expand profit opportunities while promoting environmentally sensitive production using the soybean checkoff and other resources. The Association is governed by an elected volunteer board of 21 farmers.

Website: http://www.iasoybeans.com

Published: June 30, 2010