The US Department of Agriculture on February 22, at its annual Outlook Forum, unveiled long-awaited forecasts for domestic sowings of major crops for the 2018 harvest.
These estimates will be the market’s working figures until a briefing late next month giving data based on a survey of farmers’ intentions.
Below the Forum forecasts, how they compare with last season’s sowings, and with the so-called "baseline" estimates released in November by the USDA.
| USDA Forum forecasts for US crop sowings 2018, change on year, and on ’baseline’ estimates | |||
| Crop | Feb 22 area forecast | Change on 2017 | Change on baseline estimate |
| Corn | 90.0m acres | -0.2m acres | -1.0m acres |
| Cotton | 13.3m acres | +0.7m acres | +2.1m acres |
| Rice | 2.9m acres | +0.4m acres | in line |
| Soybeans | 90.0m acres | -0.1m acres | -1.0m acres |
| Wheat | 46.5m acres | +0.5m acres | +1.5m acres |
Source: Agrimoney