USDA Reports Show Shift in 2025 Crop Acreage, Stocks Mixed

The USDA’s latest Acreage and Quarterly Grain Stocks reports, released Monday, reflect a notable shift in U.S. crop planting decisions for 2025. Corn planted area is estimated at 95.2 million acres, up 5 percent from last year and the third-highest corn acreage since 1944. In contrast, soybean acreage fell by four percent to 83.4 million acres, and wheat acreage is down one percent. Van Ahn and Company COO Kristi Van Ahn-Kjeseth said the corn acreage number was “a little bit on the friendly side,” but added, “just seems like corn has lost its ability to do that” — rally off the report. She noted that “when you plug in this number to the S and Ds for corn, it just doesn’t scream anything overly bearish and it doesn’t scream anything overly bearish with a 181 yield, which I feel like it’s going to be very tricky to achieve.” Regarding grain stocks, Van Ahn-Kjeseth said the numbers were “not bearish,” but traders were hoping for a more surprising figure in corn stocks, given strong export sales. “It came in right at expectations,” she said. “That is still 357 million bushels left, and we were a year ago, so obviously we have a different dynamic this year.”