WASHINGTON-(Bloomberg)--U.S. soybean acreage will be the biggest ever this year after rains forced farmers to switch away from corn, cotton and wheat, which need to be planted earlier, the Department of Agriculture said.
Farmers will seed a record 77.483 million acres with the oilseed, up 2.3 percent from 75.718 million sown last year, the USDA said today in a report based on a survey of farmers. In an earlier survey in March, growers said they intended to plant 76.024 million acres. Analysts questioned by Bloomberg News expected 78.16 million acres, on average.
"Rains forced farmers to plant more soybeans," said Dale Durchholz, senior market analyst for AgriVisor LLC in Bloomington, Illinois. "A large percentage of this year's crop was planted late and that means yields will be lower and increase the importance of weather in August," when soy plants set pods and fill them with beans, Durchholz said.
Soybean futures for November delivery yesterday fell 7.5 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $9.835 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. July soybean futures yesterday rose 14 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $12.15.
Some fields from Arkansas to Michigan received as much as twice the normal rainfall the past 60 days, data from the High Plains Regional Climate Center at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln show. Planting increases in most states were tempered by reduced acreage in Nebraska, where drier weather prompted some farmers to switch to corn, the USDA said.
FARMERS SURVEYED
The USDA report, released in Washington, is based on a survey of about 87,000 farmers conducted during the first two weeks of June, as the planting season neared its end. As of June 28, 96 percent of the crop was sown, the USDA said yesterday. The department in August will release its first estimate of soybean production, based on today's acreage forecast.
Last year, farmers harvested 2.959 billion bushels of soybeans, the fourth-largest crop ever. The average yield was 39.6 bushels per acre, the sixth-best on record, according to the USDA. The results came after flooding delayed planting and dry weather in August damaged yields.
The USDA also surveyed farmers about the use of genetically modified seeds. About 91 percent of the total soybean acreage was planted with gene-engineered seeds this year, down from 92 percent last year, the government said.
Soybean stockpiles left over from last year's harvest totaled 597 million bushels as of June 1, down 12 percent from 676 million a year earlier, the USDA said in a separate report. That's the smallest inventory since 2004. Seventeen analysts in a Bloomberg survey expected 585 million bushels, on average.
Soybeans are the second-biggest U.S. crop, valued last year at a record $27.4 billion, according to the USDA. Corn is the top crop, with a 2008 value of $47.4 billion.
