U.S. Department of Agriculture
USDA’s March Prospective Plantings report estimates U.S. farmers will plant 95.3 million acres of corn in 2025, 83.5 million acres of soybeans and 45.4 million acres of wheat.
Continued good demand into 2025/26 is likely as any positive tariff results wouldn’t end in one year — potentially sustaining the corn bull market.
With tariffs and trade in focus again, a recent AgWeb poll asked farmers if they support President Donald Trump’s use of tariffs as a negotiating strategy.
USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins says the agency is hyper-focused on poultry, but no vaccine is yet available. The agency has ‘separate work streams’ to address the virus in the ‘cattle and dairy’ industries, but dairy is not part of USDA’s primary focus for now.
USDA is directing expedited processing to get farmers economic relief payments based on planted and prevented planted crop acres for the 2024 crop year.
According to the Department of Government Efficiency website, these offices are located in 40 states, and the total savings from this move would add up to more than $60 million.
With nearly half a billion in ag research funding at stake, according to data from former USAID contractor Jordan Schermerhorn, labs around the country are facing personnel layoffs, at best, and shutdown of hundreds of research projects, at worst.
Darren Frye, Water Street Solutions, says corn, wheat and hogs reacted negatively to the 25% tariffs being imposed on Canada and Mexico on March 4.
USDA’s first acreage estimate shows farmers could plant more corn acres this year, but fewer soybean and cotton acres.
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins confirms those payments will be released before the March 21 current deadline in an exclusive interview with Farm Journal on Thursday morning. She also outlined the timing of the $1 billion just announced to combat avian flu.