Corn plantings in the United States, already pegged at the highest in over 60 years in a March government report, are expected to expand even more, according to analysts' polled by Reuters. "I went up a little on corn acres because of the high price for corn and the enthusiasm that it built," said Daniel Bluntzer, director of research for Frontier Risk Management.
The US Department of Agriculture early Friday will release its hotly anticipated June plantings report and an average of analysts' estimates placed this year's corn area at 90.618 million acres, the largest seedings since 1944 and above the USDA forecast in March for 90.454 million.
"That has some precedent in that the plantings started to accelerate quite well in early to mid-May," said Bill Nelson, analyst for A.G. Edwards and Co "And with high corn prices, and farmer interest that way, despite the planting problems in April, I think we probably maintained or slightly exceeded the USDA forecast," he said.