USDA released the annual Prospective Plantings report

USDA released the annual Prospective Plantings report on Mar 28, 2013 , which shows what farmers are planning to plant this spring for the 2013/14 crop year. Farmers can still change their minds, and spring weather almost always has an impact on actual crop acreage. Still, this report provides a pretty good guide to how crop acres might shift among the major crops. The data shows corn planted area up slightly from 2012; soybean planted area down slightly; all wheat planted area up 1%; all cotton planted area down 19%.

Corn growers intend to plant 97.3 million acres of corn for all purposes in 2013, up slightly from last year and 6 percent higher than in 2011. If realized, this will represent the highest planted acreage in the United States since 1936 when an estimated 102 million acres were planted.

Soybean planted area for 2013 is estimated at 77.1 million acres, down slightly from last year but the fourth highest on record, if realized. Compared with 2012, planted area is down across the Great Plains with the exception of North Dakota. Nebraska and Minnesota are expecting the largest declines compared with last year, while Illinois and North Dakota are expecting the largest increases.

All wheat planted area for 2013 is estimated at 56.4 million acres, up 1 percent from 2012. The 2013 winter wheat planted area, at 42.0 million acres, is 2 percent above last year and up slightly from the previous estimate. Of this total, about 28.9 million acres are Hard Red Winter, 9.67 million acres are Soft Red Winter, and 3.39 million acres are White Winter. Area planted to other spring wheat for 2013 is expected to total 12.7 million acres, up 3 percent from 2012. Of this total, about 12.1 million acres are Hard Red Spring wheat. The intended Durum planted area for 2013 is estimated at 1.75 million acres, down 18 percent from the previous year.

All cotton planted area for 2013 is expected to total 10.0 million acres, 19 percent below last year. Upland area is expected to total 9.82 million acres, down 19 percent from 2012. American Pima area is expected to total 206,000 acres, down 14 percent from 2012.