The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) announced on June 30 that U.S. soybean planted area estimates have reached a record high of 83.7 million acres in 2016.
This is up one percent from 2015, according to the latest Acreage report.
Planters either maintained or increased their 2015 soybean acreage in 18 of the 31 major-producing states. Kansas, Minnesota and Missouri saw the biggest booms, with each reporting an excess of 200,000 acres planted, in comparison to 2015.
Corn growers have also increased their acreage by 7 percent from last year, totaling approximately 94.1 million acres.
About 94 percent of this year’s soybean acreage was planted to herbicide resistant varieties, and 93 percent of corn crop acreage was planted to biotechnology seed varieties. These statistics reflect growers’ increasing use of biotechnology in the agricultural field.
In May 2016, Purdue Agricultural Economist Chris Hurt stated that farmers who had delayed planting corn could potentially make up for it by planting soybeans instead. High demand continues to come in from China, which is the largest export market for U.S. beans.
To date, there are 870 million bushels of soybeans stored in positions across the U.S. This is an increase from 39 percent at the same time in 2015.
The NASS surveyed about 11,000 segments of land and 70,500 growers during the first two weeks of June to draw its conclusions. “The Acreage and Grain Stocks” report can be found on www.nass.usda.gov.