Record Corn Planting by U.S. Farmers Amid Trade Worries

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest report has provided a fascinating snapshot into the planting intentions of American farmers for 2025. They are going big on corn, aiming to plant a whopping 95.3 million acres. That's a solid 5% jump from the previous year, making it the largest corn planting effort in the last five years. A considerable number of states—40 out of 48 to be exact—are joining this corn rush. Why, you ask? It all boils down to ongoing trade disputes making corn a safer bet than soybeans, at least for now.

Leading this surge in corn acreage are states like Iowa, Illinois, and Nebraska, traditional powerhouses of corn production. Iowa is looking at planting around 13.5 million acres, up from 12.9 million last year. Illinois and Nebraska aren't far behind, prepping for 11.1 and 10.6 million acres respectively. The southern states are also hopping on the corn train with significant percentage increases; Arkansas is up 42%, Mississippi 41%, and Tennessee 29%.

But it's not all sunshine for every crop. Soybeans are set to take a hit, with farmers planning to plant 4% fewer acres this year, totaling 83.5 million acres. Wheat isn't faring much better, with a 2% drop bringing it to 45.4 million acres, perilously close to the situation back in 1919. And cotton? It's facing steep challenges, dropping 12% in planned acreage. Upland cotton alone is down 12%, hitting 9.87 million acres, while Pima cotton takes an even steeper nosedive with a 24% reduction.

What does this mean for market reactions? The corn figures did overshoot trade guesses, which based their stakes on 94.36 million acres. The USDA's corn stock figures as of March 1 further show a tight supply, standing at 8.15 billion bushels. That said, the market kind of knew this was coming, so reactions were tepid, except for a bit of excitement over soybean prices—thanks to earlier buzz about expanded corn planting intentions.

In the world of wheat, winter wheat planting is down 2% with a projected 33.3 million acres, and for spring wheat, it's looking grimmer with a 6% decline, cutting down to about 10 million acres. These changes illustrate a major reshuffling of priorities for farmers caught in the crosshairs of trade uncertainties and fluctuating market wildlife.