Traders were surprised Friday when the U.S. Department of Agriculture shifted soybean acres down to 83.5 million. One market analyst explains what happened and what buyers need to be doing.

In its June Acreage Report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shifted acres planted to soybeans down to 83.5 million from the 87.51 million acres reported in the March Planting Intentions report.

“As we analyze the numbers released by USDA, it’s important to step back, reflect, and look at the forest through the trees,” said U.S. Soybean Export Council CEO Jim Sutter.

The U.S. is a supplier of high-quality, sustainable U.S. Soy that international customers can rely on, thanks to the commitment of our farmers and the world-class value chain.

Market analyst and President of The ProExporter Network, Marty Ruikka noted that wheat has had a really good year with 50 million acres planted, up 4.2 million acres from the year prior.

This kind of explains why corn and soy are where they are, he said.

States that saw the biggest positive change from last year were South Dakota and Minnesota, but that’s due only to the prevent plant that occurred last year. In almost all the other soybean growing states, acreage planted to soybeans went down, and corn went up.

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