USDA: Farmers plant record 84.8M soybean acres; corn crop shrinks to smallest since 2010

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Soybean plants sit in a flooded field farm field, Monday, June 30, 2014, near Dallas Center, Iowa. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in a report released Monday, says farmers are planting the smallest corn crop since 2010 but as expected have planted the largest soybean crop on record. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

DES MOINES, Iowa – American farmers have planted less corn than in any year since 2010 but more soybeans than ever, as expected.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says in its annual Acreage Report released Monday that farmers planted 91.6 million acres of corn. That’s 4 per cent less than last year but still the fifth-largest corn crop planted since 1944. Analysts expected some farmers to devote more acreage to soybeans because of a drop in corn prices.

The USDA says farmers planted a record high 84.8 million acres of soybeans, up 11 per cent from last year. Record soybean acres have been planted in Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Seventy-six per cent of the corn crop is in good to excellent condition, compared with 63 per cent last year.

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