April 10, 2008

Corn, cotton acreage to drop; soybeans, wheat up

WASHINGTON—U.S. farmers intend to plant 8 percent fewer corn acres in 2008, according to the “Prospective Plantings” report released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

The report provides the first official estimate of U.S. farmers’ planting intentions for 2008. NASS’ acreage estimates are based on surveys conducted during the first two weeks of March among about 86,000 farm operators.

Producers plan to plant 86 million acres of corn this year. That’s 7.6 million fewer acres than in 2007; however, it stands to be the second-largest planting since 1949.

“Virginia will plant less corn this year than last year, mainly due to the increased cost of fertilizer and concern about the continuing drought conditions throughout the state,” said David Coleman, grain marketing manager for the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation.

The outlook for corn prices remains strong, thanks to increasing ethanol production and other factors. Favorable prices for other crops, along with crop rotation considerations and high corn inputs costs, are motivating some farmers to switch from corn.

NASS estimates 2008 cotton plantings at 9.39 million acres, 13 percent less than what was planted last year. Upland cotton acreage is expected to total 9.19 million, the lowest level since 1983 and down 13 percent from 2007.

Virginia cotton acreage is projected to remain similar to that of 2007, said Spencer Neale, senior assistant director of the VFBF Commodity/Marketing Department.

“While down significantly from more than 100,000 acres in 2006, cotton still remains a very important crop for Virginia, especially when you take into account it is grown in only a handful of counties in southeast Virginia,” Neale said.

“Cotton is a high-input crop at a time when inputs are going nowhere but up, and that has led some growers to shift to other crops in their rotation over the last couple of years.”

Winter wheat planted late last year is at 46.8 million acres, up 4 percent from last year’s crop.

“Wheat plantings in Virginia increased last fall in response to high prices for the crop,” Coleman said. “The high prices are in response to lower production throughout the world, due to adverse weather conditions and a growing population of middle class in China and India.”

Nationwide, soybean acreage is expected to jump 18 percent, to 74.8 million acres. That’s an increase of 11.2 million acres from 2007 and is just 1 percent below 2006’s record high.
Coleman said Virginia growers also will plant more soybeans this year.

“Soybeans require less fertilizer than corn and therefore are less expensive than corn to grow,” he said. “Also, with the increased wheat acres, more soybeans will be planted on those acres after the wheat is harvested.”

Contact Coleman at 804-290-1105 or Neale at 804-290-1153.