UPDATE 8/12/08 - USDA Predicts Record Corn CropDespite the recent flooding in the Midwest and a slow start to planting in some areas of the country, U.S. farmers expect to harvest nearly 79 million acres of corn according to the Acreage report released this week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
The updated report shows U.S. farmers planted 87.3 million acres of corn in 2008, the second largest area since 1946. Of that area, growers expect to harvest 78.9 million acres for grain, the second largest area since 1944.
It's clear that farmers have responded to the marketplace and planted more corn. Despite the severe weather, corn acreage will be higher than anticipated earlier in the year. And with corn stocks and supplies higher than last year at this time, the market is working and US agriculture is responding to help feed the country and the world.
NASS collected the initial data for the annual Acreage report during the first two weeks of June, before the majority of the flooding occurred in the Midwest. In an effort to more accurately determine how much of the planted area producers still intend to harvest for grain, NASS re-interviewed 1,150 farmers last week in flood-affected areas of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin.
“While many farmers are still assessing their damage and their options, this re-interview process provided a first look at how much of the planted corn and soybeans may remain standing for harvest,” said Carol House, chair of NASS’s Agricultural Statistics Board. “And what we are seeing is that the ratio of acres intended for harvest, compared to acres originally planted, is off about 2 percent from what we would have expected prior the floods.”Source: USDA NASS
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