By Kirk Maltais
U.S. farmers are planting far less acres of soybeans than previously expected, along with more acres of corn, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in reports issued Friday.
In its latest acreage report, the USDA forecasts that farmers are planting 83.5 million acres of soybeans, 94.1 million acres of corn, and 49.6 million acres of wheat. For soybeans, Friday's estimate is far lower than the 87.45 million acres forecast by the USDA in March, while corn acres are above the 88.58 million acres forecast in March.
Surveyed analysts had forecast corn acreage to come in at 91.81 million acres, soybean acreage at 87.66 million acres, and wheat acreage at 49.65 million acres.
The USDA also released its quarterly stocks report, which showed a decline in grain stocks versus this time last year. The USDA pegged corn stocks through June 1 at 4.11 billion bushels, soybean stocks at 796 million bushels, and wheat stocks at 580 million bushels. These totals are below the estimates of surveyed analysts.
Following the release of the reports, grain futures trading on the Chicago Board of Trade have posted big swings, with most-active soybean futures up 5.5% after being up 2% before the release of the reports. Corn futures are down 2.9% after being up 0.6% before the reports release, and wheat is down 1% after being 0.6% higher before the reports release.
Traders were surprised by the big changes made by the USDA. "The bean numbers were off the charts on acres and way lower than expected on stocks, the corn was much higher on area than thought," said Charlie Sernatinger of Marex in a note following the report's release.
Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-30-23 1239ET
