Wheat acreage in the US falls to a low point

The figures appear in the latest acreage report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The picture painted largely corresponds to the forecasts published last spring. In the first weeks of June, almost 71.000 farmers were asked about their planted area.

Shrinkage greater than expected
The results show that the wheat area will not decrease by 1% this year, as previously outlined, but by 2%. The area therefore does not exceed 17,9 million hectares, which is the lowest level in the past 100 years (since registration started in 1919). The area of ​​spring wheat is shrinking the most (-4%) and amounts to 4,9 million hectares. The winter wheat area fell 2% to 12,4 million hectares.

The largest shift can be seen in the area of ​​soybeans. This increases by no less than 2019% compared to 11, while previously it was assumed to be +10%. This brings the area to 33,6 million hectares this year. The corn area is also growing in size. Growers increase 3% in size, bringing the area to 34 million hectares. This means that the expectation from last spring, an area increase of 8%, has been adjusted downwards.

Growing grain supply
At the same time as the acreage figures, USDA also published the quarterly grain stocks report. These figures confirm the picture that emerged recently in the monthly Wasde report, namely that the grain supply is growing. This growth is due to the corn supply, because wheat and soy are showing a decline.

Nevertheless, the amount of stored corn has increased 'barely' 1% compared to last year. On June 1, the inventory was 5,22 billion bushels. Corn use in the period March-May was clearly lower than last year: 2,7 billion bushels compared to 3,4 billion bushels in 2019. The total wheat stock decreased by 3% to 1 billion bushels. The stock of soybeans shrinks by as much as 22% compared to the same period last year and amounts to 1,4 billion bushels.