SD farmers projected to plant 5.8 million acres of corn

Today the United States Department of Agriculture – National Agricultural Statistics Service released its annual Prospective Plantings report for all major crops. Here is what USDA has to say about the corn crop acres specifically, which were below expert projections.

“Corn planted area for all purposes in 2014 is estimated at 91.7 million acres, down 4 percent from last year. If realized, this will represent the lowest planted acreage in the United States since 2010; however, this will represent the fifth largest corn acreage in the United States since 1944.”

Soybeans were expected to be higher than a year ago, which rang true in today’s projections.

“Soybean planted area for 2014 is estimated at a record high 81.5 million acres, up 6 percent from last year. Compared with last year, planted acreage intentions are up or unchanged across all states with the exception of Missouri and Oklahoma.”

These national trends are also expected to be the same in South Dakota as well. Farmers are expected to plant 5.8 million acres of corn, which is down 6.5% from the year before. Soybean plantings will be up in 2014, totaling approximately 4.8 million acres, up 4% from 2013.

Below are the prospective planting numbers for all major crops grown in South Dakota.

2014 South Dakota prospective plantings

Corn – 5.8 million acres. Down 400k

Sorghum – 230k acres. Down 110k

Oats – 255k acres. Down 5k

Barley – 30k acres. Down 4k

Wheat – 2.3 million acres. Down 191k

Hay – 3 million acres. Down 50k

Soybeans – 4.8 million acres. Up 200k

Sunflowers – 540k acres. Down 135k

Flax – 4k acres. Down 3k

Dry Edible Beans – 9k acres. Down 3k

Chick Peas – 3k acres. Down 2.6k

We understand these are only projections while crop margins and spring weather play a major role in the final determination for farmers. But if you do the math, the total projected crop area in South Dakota would be down 698,000 acres from 2013. That’s a high number of unassigned acres and it will be interesting to see how spring plays out.