USDA’s 2021 acreage report shows soybean planting up 5% from last year

The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service’s much-anticipated annual acreage report for 2021 has been published.

Soybean planted area for 2021 is estimated at 87.6 million acres, up 5 percent from last year. Planted acreage is up in 23 major soybean-producing states.

Area for harvest, forecast at 86.7 million acres, is also up 5 percent from 2020. If realized, this will be the third highest planted and harvested soybean acreage on record.

According to USDA, farmers responding to the survey indicated that 89 percent of the intended soybean acreage had been planted at the time of the interview, higher than the 10-year average.

Record-high planted area for soybeans is estimated in Kentucky, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania.

Canola planted area is estimated at 2 million acres in 2021, up 10 percent from last year’s planted area and represents the third-highest planted area on record for the nation. Area for harvest is forecast at 1.96 million acres, an increase of 9 percent from 2020.

Planted area in North Dakota, the leading canola-producing state, is up 11 percent from last year and represents the second-highest planted area on record for the state. If realized, area for harvest in North Dakota, at 1.65 million acres, will be a record high.

Canola planted area and area forecast for harvest in Washington, if realized, will also be a record high.

Following up to the prospective plantings report released in late spring, NASS surveyed more than 90,000 farm operators during the first two weeks of June to gather information on what farmers actually planted.

For more information, or to access the report, click here.