Citing lower returns, USDA projects lower grain, soybean, and cotton acreage

摘要

USDA on Feb. 20 presented its early-season proj ections for U.S. crop acreage in 2015/16, with corn acreage estimated at 89 million acres, down 1.6 million from the 2014 final estimate and 2.7 million acres below last year's Prospective Plantings figure. The national average corn yield is projected at 166.8 bushel/acre, 4.2 bushels lower than the 2014 record, with an "assumed return to more normal growing season weather." "Corn plantings are projected to decline for a third straight year with further reductions in the outlook for prices and producer returns," USDA said. "A return to trend yield from last year's record high also reduces expected production, but a larger carry-in results in supplies being down only slightly from the 2014/15 record."