Wisconsin farmers intend to plant 4.15 million acres of corn in 2021, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service’s Prospective Plantings report. These acres include corn for grain, high-moisture corn and corn silage. This year’s projected acres to be planted to corn is 150,000 acres more than was planted in the Dairy State in 2020.

Record soybean acres

Wisconsin producers also intend to plant 2.25 million acres of soybeans this year. This is a 250,000-acre increase from last year. If realized, this would be Wisconsin’s largest planted soybean acreage on record, according to Greg Bussler, state statistician for the NASS field office in Madison.

Bussler says $8.30 per bushel for corn and $13.80 per bushel for soybeans are pushing farmers to plant more grain. “Demand for these crops is very strong and that’s driving prices higher,” he says.

Planted acres of winter wheat in Wisconsin at 260,000 acres are up 100,000 acres from last year.

Wisconsin farmers intend to plant 18,000 acres of barley, down 8,000 acres from 2020.

The Prospective Plantings report, released March 31, provides the first official, survey-based estimates of U.S. farmers’ 2021 planting intentions.

Farmers in Wisconsin expect to harvest 1.20 million acres of all hay for the 2021 crop year. This is 170,000 acres less than last year.

Wisconsin farmers intend to plant 200,000 acres of oats for all purposes, which is 100,000 fewer acres than in 2020.

NASS’ acreage estimates are based primarily on surveys conducted during the first two weeks of March from a sample of approximately 78,900 farm operators across the United States. More than 2,100 were from Wisconsin. Actual plantings will depend on weather, economic conditions and the availability of production inputs at the time producers make their final planting decisions.

U.S. planting intentions

Corn planted area in the U.S. in 2021 is estimated at 91.1 million acres, up less than 1% or an increase of 325,000 acres from last year. Compared with last year, planted acreage is expected to be up or unchanged in 24 of the 48 estimating states.

Soybean planted acres for 2021 is estimated at 87.6 million acres, up 5% from last year. Compared with 2020, planted acreage is up or unchanged in 23 of the 29 estimating states.

All wheat planted area for 2021 is estimated at 46.4 million acres, up 5% from 2020. This represents the fourth-lowest all wheat planted area since records began in 1919. The 2021 winter wheat planted area, at 33.1 million acres, is up 9% from last year and up 3% from the previous estimate. Of this total, about 23.2 million acres are hard red winter, 6.42 million acres are soft red winter, and 3.48 million acres are white winter.

The area expected to be planted to other spring wheat for 2021 is estimated at 11.7 million acres, down 4% from 2020. Of this total, about 10.9 million acres are hard red spring wheat. Durum planted area for 2021 is expected to total 1.54 million acres, down 9% from last year.