USDA Expects Both Corn and Soybean Acres to Top 90 Million in 2021

 

USDA’s 2021 Ag Outlook Forum kicked off Thursday morning with a peek at the possible acreage mix for 2021. During the Forum, USDA’s new chief economist, Seth Meyer, pointed out that the acreage picture largely hinges on weather, as it normally does.

 

Meyer told Outlook attendees the projection is based on the assumption of normal planting weather. He says if weather cooperates, U.S. farmers could see an increase in total planted acres in 2021, with a record combined corn and soybean planted acres this year.

 

The USDA chief economist’s first look at acreage shows 2021 planted acres as follows:

While the corn and cotton acreage projection from USDA is in line with what farmers planted last year, the soybean acreage number is a bump from the 83 million acres planted in 2020.

 

American Farm Bureau Federation chief economist, John Newton, said on U.S. Farm Report last weekend that he expected to see an increase in total planted acres this year, mainly due to areas that saw significant prevent plant the past couple years were finally starting to dry out.

 

“I think one area to look at is previous prevent plant,” says Newton. “In 2019, we had nearly 20 million acres classified as prevent plant. Last year, we had 10 million acres that qualified for prevent plant. You could see some of those 10 million acres may come back online in corn and soybeans.”

 

Chip Nellinger, Blue Reef Agri-Marketing, agrees with Meyer about the weather. Nellinger thinks if the weather cooperates, farmers will plant more corn.

 

USDA will release its prospective plantings report at the end of March, which will will reveal farmer survey results.

 

“On the case of corn, it’s going to boil down to Mother Nature, as it always does,” he says. “If we get a good early, open planting window, I think it favors corn. It always does historically. But it’s going to be interesting, because we’ve got such tight stocks that we need to increase supply and have good yields and good crops. But how that acreage mix is going to pan out is anyone’s guess at this point.”

 

Nellinger pointed out it’s more than just corn and soybeans fighting for acres. He says as cotton prices climb to the 90-cent range, cotton could continue to be an attractive option to some farmers in the South this year.

 

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.