USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service is making greater use of Farm Service Agency acreage reports when developing its crop estimates. NASS increased both corn and soybean planted acreage by 1.4 million acres in the latest report. Corn acreage is estimated at 96.7 million acres and soybean acreage at 86.8 million acres. Minnesota had one of the largest adjustments, with combined corn and soybean acreage increasing by 550,000 acres. USDA said using existing FSA information allows surveys to focus more heavily on yields and current crop conditions while reducing unnecessary farmer reporting.
