Corn and soybeans were up; cotton was mixed; and wheat was down for the week.

On Thursday March 29th, USDA released the Prospective Plantings and Grain Stocks reports. The markets reacted swiftly after the reports were released with corn (10-15 cents), soybeans (25-35 cents), wheat (5-10 cents), and cotton (0.5-1.5 cents) futures trading up.

The biggest surprise was planted acreage. Corn planted acreage was projected at 88 million acres, down 2% compared to last year; soybean planted acreage was projected at 89 million acres, down 1% compared to last year, wheat planted acreage was projected at 47.3 million acres, up 3% compared to last year; and cotton planted acreage was projected at 13.5 million acres, up 4% compared to last year. Overall, net planted acreage for the four commodities was projected down 1.115 million acres. This almost makes up all of USDA’s projected decrease in principle crop area planted (16 commodities) of 1.158 million acres (317.989 in 2018 compared to 319.147 in 2017). For comparison, the decrease in principle crop acreage planted between 2016 and 2017 was 91,000 acres (319.238 to 319.147). Having projected corn and soybean acres planted simultaneously decrease caught the market off guard as typically acreage decreases for corn are partially offset by increases in soybeans and vice versa. It remains to be seen, but adding some additional acreage back to corn and soybeans seems probable. Continue reading at Tennessee Market Highlights.