US grain traders and analysts are divided over what changes, if any, the USDA will make in its forecast due Friday on how many soyabean acres American farmers planted this spring.
Soyabean planting estimates from traders and analysts covered a wide 3-million-acre range, with the average estimate of 68 million acres slightly above the Department of Agriculture's March estimate of 67.140 million.
"I don't have a reason to believe they've changed a lot from where they came out. The question is, was that the right starting point?" said Dan Cekander, analyst with Fimat USA in Chicago.
In March, the US Agriculture Department surprised traders with its corn and soyabean planting forecasts. The agency said farmers intended to plant 90.5 million acres to corn, which would be the largest area since 1944, and 67.1 million to soyabeans, which would be the smallest since 1996.
Some analysts thought the wetness in the western Corn Belt during late April and early May could result in fewer corn acres. But the general consensus was that farmers seeded all their corn as most had enrolled in crop insurance programs that enticed them to plant as much planned.
And late spring weather was conducive to planting soyabeans. Typically, Midwest farmers plant corn one year followed by soyabeans the next to maximise yield potential and limit disease and insect pressure.
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