Spring 2015 prospective planting

Corn planted acreage down 2 percent from 2014 in U.S., Nebraska corn acres unchanged

Yesterday the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) of the USDA released its spring Prospective Plantings report. This annual report is conducted after NASS surveys approximately 82,000 of the nation’s farmers during the first two weeks of March to determine their plans for the upcoming growing season.

What is on the horizon for U.S. and Nebraska farmers in 2015 as they finalize plans for planting this spring? Across the country, corn planted area for all purposes in 2015 is estimated at 89.2 million acres, down 2 percent from last year. If realized, this will be the third consecutive year of an acreage decline and would be the lowest planted acreage in the United States since 2010.

Nebraska corn growers intend to plant 9.3 million acres this year, unchanged from last year.

Soybean planting projections fell 6 percent from last year, as growers expect to only plant 5.1 million acres. An expected 2.7 million acres is expected to be planted to hay which is up 5 percent from last year. Winter wheat planted last fall is estimated at 1.6 million acres, a 3 percent increase from last year.

In other crops, nationally,soybean planted area for 2015 is estimated at a record high 84.6 million acres, up 1 percent from last year.  All wheat planted area for 2015 is estimated at 55.4 million acres, down 3 percent from 2014. All cotton planted area for 2015 is estimated at 9.55 million acres, 13 percent below last year.

The Nebraska Corn Board will again be partnering with local FFA chapters from across the state on its Crop Progress program where chapters send in pictures of the growing season from planting to harvest. Be on the lookout soon for crop progress reports and new pictures! Follow on NebraskaCorn.org and NCB’s Flickr page for updated photos.