The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released its latest acreage report on June 30. Today, we review this report.
Board Update 7/10/2023
Dates & Deadlines
8/1 -8/2/2023 – Amarillo, Texas – 2023 Grain Grading Workshop
8/1/2023 – San Angelo, Texas – Fire Field Day
8/2/2023 – Virtual – Ecosystem Goods and Services
8/7-8/9/2023 – College Station, Texas – Beef Cattle Short Course
8/14-8/15/2023 – College Station, Texas – Beef 706
8/18-8/19/2023 – San Angelo, Texas – Texas Sheep and Goat Expo
9/7/2023 – Virtual – Return of the Natives: Restoring Native Grasslands
Report Overview
Figure 1 compares estimates of planted acreage for selected crops in 2023 to planted acres in 2022. Figure 2 compares the estimates from the June report to the estimates from the March Prospective Plantings survey. The report shows significant changes in planted acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, and cotton in 2023 compared to 2022. During the month of July, USDA will finish collecting data from areas of the country that have not finished planting yet and will update the acreage report if the new information justifies doing so.
Corn
Corn area planted increased in 2023 by about 6% to 94.1 million acres. This was also a 2.3% increase above the March survey estimate of 92 million acres; however, 2.49 million acres estimated in the report were not yet planted at the time of the survey. According to the acreage report, this is the third highest planted acreage in the U.S. since 1944.
Sorghum
Growers planted about 6.81 million acres of sorghum this year, which is an increase of 7.6% in planted acreage compared to 2022. Almost all this increase in planted acres is in Texas, which increased its planted area by 34.5% compared to 2022. Acreage in Nebraska and Oklahoma also saw small increases in planted acres, while Colorado and South Dakota saw modest decreases. Compared to the March estimate, growers planted about 830,000 more acres of Sorghum than expected, which is an increase of about 14%.
Wheat
Table 1 compares this year’s planted area for all wheat to last year’s values in the report. Planted acres for all wheat increased by 8.5% relative to 2022 and remain essentially unchanged from the March survey prediction. This is the largest amount planted since 2016, but still a low value historically. The report also forecasts the area harvested at 37.7 million acres, a 6.3% increase over the previous year.
Soybeans
Soybean planted acres in 2023 are estimated at 83.5 million acres. This is a decrease of 4.5% compared both to the 2022 planted area and to the estimate in the March prospective planting survey. Still, according to the June report, if projections for planting and harvesting are met, this will be the 5th highest planted acreage and 6th highest harvested acreage for soybeans on record.
Peanuts
Peanut acreage for 2023 in the June report is estimated at 1.6 million acres, almost 9% larger than 2022 and 2% larger than the March estimate. Most of this increase occurred in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas. In Texas, peanut planted acres decreased by 5000 acres relative to 2022 but remained unchanged relative to the March survey estimate.
Cotton
Cotton area planted is projected at 11.1 million acres this year, which is a 19.4% decrease in planted area compared to 2022 and a 1.5% decrease compared to the March prospective planting report. Across the United States, cotton acres are down this year in 16 of 17 major producing states. In Texas, the planted area is down 1.75 million acres compared to 2022 and 118,000 acres compared to the March report. The reduction in Texas acres accounted for about 66% of the total reduction in planted acres nationwide.