USDA Row Crop Reports Provide Insight Into Farm Economy

Smith: The USDA's June Acreage Report showed minor shifts in planting, with fewer corn acres and more soybean acres planted. Faith Parum, an economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation, said farmers planted less wheat, too.

Parum: And a lot less wheat than expected. We did kind of see in the March Intentions Report that wheat was going to be lower this year, and that held true. All of this kind of shows how cost of production shifts planting over time. I will say that, originally, we thought that there was going to be a large shift to soybeans because of the cost of fertilizer, and it really wasn't that big of a shift.

Smith: Parum said farmers and economists will get more information soon, from the July WASDE report.

Parum: The WASDE will provide us a new update on what global supplies look like, as well as what domestic supplies may look like with these new acreage numbers, and what we think farm prices will look like. So, it'll be a good overall look at the state of the row crop market, specifically.

Smith: Parum said fertilizer prices did play a role in the switch from corn to soybeans.

Parum: Some probably switched and planted a little bit more soybeans than they were thinking, but nothing too drastic. I think we might have seen some reduction in acreage, but again, nothing too drastic. What we'll really look to now is what the fall fertilizer markets look like. With the conflict still ongoing, there'll be a lot of volatility into that fall application period.

Smith: Chad Smith, Washington.