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USDA’s 2026 Crop Acreage Estimates: More Soybeans, Fewer Corn Acres

USDA’s March 2026 planting-intentions forecast projected less corn and more soybeans than in 2025. Later estimates revised both acreage totals while preserving that broad direction.
From TheFinanceBase Team2 min to read
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USDA’s March 2026 forecast pointed to fewer U.S. corn acres and more soybean acres than in 2025. Those first figures were farmers’ planting intentions, not final acreage: later USDA estimates continued to show the same broad shift, while revising the totals upward.

What did USDA forecast in March?

In its March 31, 2026, Prospective Plantings report, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) estimated that farmers intended to plant 95.3 million acres of corn and 84.7 million acres of soybeans. Compared with 2025, the corn estimate was down 3% and the soybean estimate was up 4%.

NASS called the report the first official, survey-based estimate of U.S. farmers’ 2026 planting intentions. The survey covered nearly 74,000 farm operators and was conducted during the first two weeks of March. It measured intended plantings at that point in the season, not what farmers ultimately planted.

How did the acreage estimates change?

USDA later surveyed producers about what they had planted. Its June 30 Acreage report estimated 95.3 million planted corn acres and 85.4 million planted soybean acres. NASS said approximately 90,300 farm operators were surveyed in the first two weeks of June.

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In its September 11, 2026, Crop Production briefing, NASS reported revised planted-area estimates of 96.777 million corn acres and 86.865 million soybean acres. The briefing’s chart gives the 2025 comparison as 98.8 million corn acres and 81.2 million soybean acres, and rounds the 2026 estimates to 96.8 million and 86.9 million, respectively.

USDA release or estimate Corn acres Soybean acres What it represents
March 31, 2026 95.3 million 84.7 million NASS planting intentions
June 30, 2026 95.3 million 85.4 million NASS planted-acreage estimate
September 11, 2026 96.777 million 86.865 million NASS revised planted-acreage estimate

The dates and figures in this table are USDA NASS estimates for the 2026 crop year; March intentions and later planted-acreage estimates are different measures. The September briefing’s rounded chart comparison indicates that corn acreage remained below 2025, while soybean acreage remained above it.

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Why are there different USDA numbers?

Planting intentions are an early-season snapshot of what producers expect to plant. The June Acreage report follows up with a survey focused on what they actually planted, and NASS may revise acreage estimates later. As a result, the March forecast should not be described as the final or latest 2026 acreage figure.

A separate USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) long-term baseline projected 95.0 million corn acres and 85.0 million soybean acres for 2026/27. ERS’s baseline outlook is a projection, not a NASS survey estimate of either intentions or acreage planted. The numbers answer different questions and should not be treated as interchangeable.

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What the acreage shift does—and does not—show

The USDA figures establish the direction of the national acreage change: the September estimates show fewer corn acres and more soybean acres than the briefing’s 2025 comparison. They do not establish why any individual farmer chose one crop over another. The cited NASS releases report acreage estimates, not evidence attributing planting decisions to prices, costs, trade, farm policy, weather, or expected profitability.

For background on the March survey, USDA’s Prospective Plantings catalog entry describes the report and its coverage of principal crops.

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