USDA projects corn stocks will be 141 million bushels LARGER
than the same period of 2008. Soybean supplies are projected to
be 114 million bushels LESS than last year, and wheat stocks are
predicted to INCREASE 350 million bushels over 2008. A decline
in acres planted to wheat could bode well for new crop prices
and that was just one of several predictions made by USDA this
week in its much-anticipated Prospective Plantings report.
Soybean producers are expected to work a record 76 million acres
in 2009. At least eight states are anticipating farmers will
increase the number of acres planted in soybeans by 100,000 or
more. USDA is predicting a 7 percent decline in this year's
wheat acreage to nearly 60 million acres. The largest amount of
ground is dedicated to winter wheat which also is predicted to
be down by 7 percent over last year. And cotton numbers are
expected to fall by 7 percent to 8.81 million acres. If this
comes to pass, it would be the fewest number of acres planted
since 1983. According to the