(WASHINGTON D.C.) — USDA projected higher than expected corn, lower than expected soybean and wheat acres for 2026 in the latest Prospective Plantings report.
Corn acres are projected to be 95.338 million this year, up from USDA’s February projection of 94 million acres and above the average pre-report trade guess. Meantime, soybean acres came in at 84.7 million acres on the report. That number is down slightly from USDA’s February projection of 85 million acres and almost a million acres below the average pre-report trade guess. Wheat acres came in at 43.775 million for 2026, down from USDA’s February projection of 45 million and about one million acres below pre-report averages as well.
According to USDA, planted acreage intentions for corn are down in 37 of the 48 estimating states. Acreage decreases of 300,000 acres or more from last year are expected in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. If realized, the area of corn planted in Nevada and Washington will be the largest on record, while Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island will be the smallest on record. On the soybean side, acreage increases from last year of 300,000 or more are expected in Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Record high acreage is expected in Wisconsin.
The Prospective Plantings report provides the first official, survey-based estimates of U.S. farmers’ 2026 planting intentions. NASS acreage estimates are based on surveys conducted during the first two weeks of March from a sample of nearly 74,000 farm operators across the nation. Other key findings in the report are:
- All wheat planted area for 2026 is estimated at 43.8 million acres, down 3% from 2025.
- Winter wheat planted area, at 32.4 million acres, is down 2% from both the previous estimate and from last year.
- Area planted to other spring wheat for 2026 is expected to total 9.42 million acres, down 6% from 2025.
- Durum wheat planted is expected to total 1.95 million acres for 2026, down 11% from last year.
- All cotton planted area for 2026 is expected to total 9.64 million acres, up 4% compared to last year.
USDA also released it’s latest Quarterly Grain Stocks report on Tuesday, with corn and wheat ending stocks below pre-report average guesses and soybean stocks above pre-report averages. Corn stocks as of March 1st, 2026 were 9.024 billion bushels, soybean stocks were 2.105 billion bushels and wheat stocks were 1.3 billion bushels.
Other key findings in that report include:
- Corn stocks totaled 9.02 billion bushels, up 11% from the same time last year. On-farm corn stocks were up 21% from a year ago, while off-farm stocks were down 2%.
- Soybeans stored totaled 2.10 billion bushels, up 10% from March 1, 2025. On-farm soybean stocks were up 3% from a year ago, while off-farm stocks were up 16%.
- All wheat stored totaled 1.30 billion bushels, up 5% from a year ago. On-farm all wheat stocks were down 3% from last year, while off-farm stocks were up 8%.
- Durum wheat stored totaled 46.5 million bushels, up 21% from March 1, 2025. On-farm Durum stocks were up 40% from a year ago, while off-farm stocks of Durum wheat were down 4%.
***AUDIO*** Arlan Suderman, Chief Commodities Economist at StoneX joined us for a recap and instant reaction to the report after the numbers were released on Tuesday from USDA in our Market Talk Midday Commentary:
View the full Prospective Plantings report here: https://esmis.nal.usda.gov/publication/prospective-plantings
View the full Quarterly Grain Stocks report here: https://esmis.nal.usda.gov/publication/grain-stocks
