USDA surprised the grain trade in their March 31 Prospective Plantings report.  They project 93.6 million acres of corn planted which is well above analyst’s expectations of 90.0 million acres and 2015 acres of 88.0 million.  Corn futures reacted quickly trading new contract lows.

Projected soybean acres of 82.2 million acres are slightly below average expectations of 83.1 million acres and below 2015 acres of 82.7 million.

The Quarterly Stocks report was uneventful as corn stocks were close to expected at 7.808 billion bushels and soybeans stocks were slightly lower than expected at 1.531 billion bushels.

Read the complete NASS Prospective Plantings report here

Read the complete NASS Quarterly Stocks report here

Graphics courtesy of Advance Trading Inc.