Planting Intentions, Grain Stocks reports released

Once they have time to digest the numbers contained in two USDA reports released March 30 – the 2012 Prospective Plantings and quarterly Grains Stocks reports – dairy producers will have a clearer idea of feed costs for the foreseeable future. DairyBusiness Communications will provide additional analysis later, but for now, here are the numbers:

Prospective Plantings: More corn, less soybeans

According to the Prospective Plantings report, U.S. corn growers intend to plant 95.9 million acres of corn for all purposes in 2012, up 4% from last year and 9% higher than 2010. If realized, this will represent the highest planted acreage in the United States since 1937, when an estimated 97.2 million acres were planted.

Planted acreage is expected to be up in most states compared to last year, due to expectations of better net returns in 2012 compared to other commodities. Record corn acreage is expected in Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, while acreage is expected to decrease in the central and southern Great Plains, which experienced severe drought and above-normal temperatures in 2011. 

Soybean planted area for 2012 is estimated at 73.9 million acres, down 1% from last year and down 5% from 2010, as some acreage is expected to shift to corn. Compared with 2011, planted area is down or unchanged across the Corn Belt and Great Plains, with the exceptions of Illinois, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Additionally, soybean acreage intentions in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas are down from 2011 due to drought conditions that have continued into early March.

Hay: Producers intend to harvest 57.3 million acres of all hay in 2012, up 3% from last year’s record low. If realized, this will be the second smallest harvested area on record. Producers in several states – Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey and Pennsylvania – intend to harvest record-low acreages. Generally, all hay harvested acreage east of the Mississippi River is expected to decrease in 2012. Conversely, producers from the Great Plains westward intend to harvest more hay this season following the unusually dry conditions that limited hay production in 2011. 

Cotton: Affecting cottonseed availability and price, growers intend to plant 13.2 million acres in 2012, down 11% from last year. Lower cotton prices and strong competition from other crops are the main factors for the decrease. 

Grain Stocks: Less corn, more soybeans

According to the Grain Stocks report, corn stored in all positions on March 1, 2012 totaled 6.01 billion bushels, down 8% from a year ago. The December 2011-February 2012 indicated disappearance is 3.64 billion bushels, compared with 3.53 billion bushels during the same period last year. 

Soybeans stored in all positions on March 1, 2012 totaled 1.37 billion bushels, up 10% from March 1, 2011. Indicated disappearance for the December 2011-February 2012 quarter totaled 998 million bushels, down 3% from the same period a year earlier. 

To see the full reports, visti:

Prospective Plantings: http://www.usda.gov/nass/PUBS/TODAYRPT/pspl0312.pdf

Grain Stocks: http://www.usda.gov/nass/PUBS/TODAYRPT/grst0312.pdf