Prospective plantings report and grain stocks report

The Illinois Field Office of NASS today released the USDA's Prospective Plantings Report and Grain Stocks Report.  State and national highlights of the report include:

PROSPECTIVE PLANTINGS REPORT ILLINOIS

Farmers intend to plant 12.5 million acres of corn for all purposes in 2012, down

100,000 acres from 2011.  Many farmers noted that corn on corn acres have not yielded

as well as many had hoped for the past few years, leading to increased rotations of

other crops.  Planting got underway the middle of March in some locations around

Illinois and is progressing at an above average pace this year.

This crop year begins with soybean producers intending to plant 9.0 million acres, up

about one percent from last year.  Acreage planted to soybeans since the year 2000

has ranged from a low of 8.3 million in 2007 to a high of 10.7 million in 2001.  

Soybean acres have held fairly steady since 2008.   

Farmers seeded an estimated 660 thousand acres of winter wheat last fall, 140

thousand acres less than the 800 thousand acres seeded in 2010.  Farmers were aided

by favorable weather conditions last fall which allowed a quick harvest of crops on

land to be used for wheat this year.

UNITED STATES

Corn growers intend to plant 95.9 million acres of corn for all purposes in 2012, up

4 percent from last year and 9 percent higher than in 2010. If realized, this will

represent the highest planted acreage in the United States since 1937 when an

estimated 97.2 million acres were planted.

Soybean planted area for 2012 is estimated at 73.9 million acres, down 1 percent from last year and down 5 percent from 2010. Compared with 2011, planted area is down or unchanged across the Corn Belt and Great Plains with the exceptions of Illinois, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

All wheat planted area is estimated at 55.9 million acres, up 3 percent from 2011.

The 2012 winter wheat planted area, at 41.7 million acres, is up 3 percent from last

year but down 1 percent from the previous estimate. Of this total, about 29.9 million

acres are Hard Red Winter, 8.4 million acres are Soft Red Winter, and 3.5 million

acres are White Winter. Area planted to other spring wheat for 2012 is estimated at

12.0 million acres, down 3 percent from 2011. Of this total, about 11.3 million acres

are Hard Red Spring wheat. Durum planted area for 2012 is estimated at 2.22 million acres, up 62 percent from the previous year.

GRAIN STOCKS ILLINOIS

Corn stocks in all positions on March 1, 2012 are estimated at 1.01 billion bushels,

10 percent below March 1, 2011.  The December-February disappearance totaled 661

million bushels, up 10 percent from the same period a year earlier.  This is the

largest disappearance for this quarter since March 2011 when the price of corn

averaged $5.86/bushel.  The price of corn is averaging $6.20/bushel as of the full

month of February. Off-farm stocks, at 558 million bushels, were down 16 percent from

March 1, 2011 and accounted for 55 percent of the state total.  On-farm stocks were

unchanged from a year earlier at 450 million bushels.   

Soybean stocks are estimated at 195 million bushels, 4 percent below last year’s

March 1 total of 202 million bushels.  The December-February disappearance totaled

204 million bushels, down 1 percent from a year earlier.  On farm stocks, at 77

million bushels, were down 1 percent from the same time period in 2011.  Off-farm

stocks decreased 4 percent from last year and totaled 118 million bushels, accounting

for 61 percent of total stocks.   

Wheat stocks are estimated at 47.5 million bushels for March 1. This is up 16 percent

from last year’s total of 41 million bushels.  On-farm stocks, at 2 million bushels,

are up 4 percent from this time last year. Off-farm stocks, at 45.5 million bushels,

accounted for 96 percent of the state total.   

UNITED STATES

Corn stocks in all positions on March 1, 2012 totaled 6.01 billion bushels, down 8

percent from March 1, 2011. Of the total stocks, 3.19 billion bushels are stored on

farms, down 6 percent from a year earlier. Off-farm stocks, at 2.82 billion bushels,

are down 10 percent from a year ago. The December 2011 - February 2012 indicated disappearance is 3.64 billion bushels, compared with 3.53 billion bushels during the same period last year.

Soybeans stored in all positions on March 1, 2012 totaled 1.37 billion bushels, up 10

percent from March 1, 2011. Soybean stocks stored on farms are estimated at 555

million bushels, up 10 percent from a year ago. Off-farm stocks, at 817 million

bushels, are up 10 percent from last March. Indicated disappearance for the December 2011 - February 2012 quarter totaled 998 million bushels, down 3 percent from the same period a year earlier.

All wheat stored in all positions on March 1, 2012 totaled 1.20 billion bushels, down

16 percent from a year ago. On-farm stocks are estimated at 217 million bushels, down 25 percent from last March. Off-farm stocks, at 983 million bushels, are down 14 percent from a year ago. The December 2011 - February 2012 indicated disappearance is 462 million bushels, down 9 percent from the same period a year earlier.