US corn area fell 3% in 2026 as soybean plantings rose 5%, USDA says

Farmers in the United States planted an estimated 95.3 million acres of corn in 2026, 3% less than the year before, while soybean area rose 5% to 85.4 million acres. The figures came from the annual Acreage report released on 30 June 2026 by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) of the US Department of Agriculture. Quarterly Grain Stocks and Rice Stocks reports published the same day showed that stocks of corn, soybean, wheat and rough rice on 1 June were all larger than a year earlier.

NASS said that, following up its Prospective Plantings report of March, it surveyed about 90,300 farm operators during the first two weeks of June to find out what they had actually planted. Growers expected to harvest 87.4 million acres of corn for grain, down 4% from 2025, and 84.4 million acres of soybean, up 5%.

In the Prospective Plantings report of 31 March 2026, farmers had said they intended to plant 95.3 million acres of corn and 84.7 million acres of soybean. The June estimate for corn therefore matched the March intentions, while soybean area came in above them. The March report had noted that corn planting intentions were down in 37 of the 48 estimating states and that record soybean acreage was expected in Wisconsin.

A large part of the June estimate rests on the NASS June Area Survey. According to the agency's survey guide, all land in every state except Alaska is stratified by land use, more than 9,000 segments of roughly one square mile are selected each year, and every farm operator within a selected segment is interviewed.

All cotton planted area was estimated at 9.85 million acres, 6% above 2025. Upland cotton accounted for 9.70 million acres and American Pima for 150,000 acres, both up 6%. In March, cotton plantings had been expected at 9.64 million acres.

Wheat area shrank. All wheat was put at 42.7 million acres, down 6% on the year, against 43.8 million acres in the March intentions. Winter wheat covered 31.5 million acres (down 5%), other spring wheat 9.39 million acres (down 6%) and durum 1.83 million acres (down 16%).

NASS estimated that 92% of all US corn acres were planted to biotech varieties, down from 2025. Biotech varieties covered 94% of upland cotton acres, 3 percentage points less than the year before, and producers planted 95% of the soybean acreage with herbicide-resistant seed, also down from 2025.

The Grain Stocks report put corn stocks on 1 June 2026 at 5.29 billion bushels, 14% more than a year earlier. On-farm corn stocks were up 16% and off-farm stocks up 12%. Soybeans in store totalled 1.06 billion bushels, up 5%, although on-farm soybean stocks were down 11% while off-farm stocks rose 16%. All wheat stocks stood at 920 million bushels, up 8%, including 33.5 million bushels of durum, up 20%.

The bushel is a US unit of volume; by standard weight a bushel of shelled corn is 56 pounds (about 25.4 kg) and a bushel of soybean or wheat 60 pounds (about 27.2 kg). Off-farm stocks are grain held at elevators, warehouses, ethanol plants, terminals, merchant mills and oilseed crushers, which NASS counts on 1 March, 1 June, 1 September and 1 December each year.

The Rice Stocks report put rough rice stocks at 74.8 million hundredweight, up 7% from 1 June 2025. Long grain varieties made up 73% of the total, medium grain 26% and short grain 1%. Milled rice stocks totalled 5.93 million hundredweight, down 3%. A US hundredweight equals 100 pounds, or 45.36 kg.

Photo: Lynn Betts / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Sources: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (Acreage, Grain Stocks and Rice Stocks reports, 30 June 2026), NASS Prospective Plantings report (31 March 2026), NASS survey guides (June Area Survey and Off-Farm Grain Stocks), Wikipedia (Bushel, Hundredweight)