Changes in intended sowing in top States mostly signal more corn, fewer soybeans

USDA's Prospective Plantings report in March indicated that U.S. farmers intend to reduce the acreage sown to soybeans this year by 1.4 percent to 73.9 million acres. With more attractive expected returns from corn production, corn acreage is expected to expand 4 percent to a 75-year high as soybean acreage shifts to corn in 2012. The Corn Belt region is where the main shift in cropland between corn and soybeans is anticipated. The sole region where an expansion in soybean acreage might occur this year is the Northern Plains, where millions of acres were unsown last year due to excessively wet soil conditions. This chart is found in the April 2012 Oil Crops Outlook, OCS-12d.

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