Corn acreage down slightly, soybeans up from 2019

Soybeans planted in Virginia were estimated at 570,000 acres, unchanged from 2019. Acres harvested for grain, at 560,000 acres, was unchanged from acres a year ago. U.S. soybean planted area for 2020 was estimated at 83.8 million acres, up 10% from last year. Area for harvest, at 83.0 million acres, is up 11% from 2019.

Acreage planted to corn in Virginia was estimated at 520,000 acres, down 20,000 acres from 2019. Acres harvested for grain was estimated at 375,000 acres, down 5,000 acres from last year. The U.S. corn planted for all purposes in 2020 was estimated at 92.0 million acres, up 3% from last year. Growers expect to harvest 84.0 million acres for grain, up 3% from last year.

Upland cotton acreage in Virginia was estimated at 95,000, down 8,000 acres from 2019. The U.S. total upland cotton acreage is estimated at 12.0 million acres, down 11% from the previous year. Farmers in Virginia intend to set an estimated 400 acres of burley tobacco for harvest. This was 300 acres below the 2019 level.

Dark fire-cured tobacco acreage set was estimated at 250 acres, down 70 acres from the previous year. Flue-cured tobacco acreage was estimated at 14,000 acres, down 1,000 from a year ago. Flue-cured producing states acreage for harvest was estimated at 120,500 acres, 19% below last year.

Peanut growers in the Commonwealth planted 27,000 acres, up 2,000 acres from 2019. Producers expect to harvest 27,000 acres of peanuts this year, up 3,000 acres from 2019. U.S. peanuts planted was estimated at 1.51 million acres, up 6% from 2019. Area harvested for grain was forecast at 1.47 million acres, up 6% from last year. Barley seeded acreage is estimated at 31,000 acres, up 3% from last year.

Barley producers anticipate harvesting 9,000 acres for grain, 2,000 above last year. Barley planted for the Nation was estimated at 2.80 million acres, up 3% from 2019. Acres harvested for grain is forecast at 2.23 million acres, up 2% from last year.

Winter wheat seeded acreage in Virginia was estimated at 235,000 acres, 55,000 acres above the previous year. Acreage harvested for grain was estimated at 165,000 acres, 60,000 acres above 2019. The U.S. winter wheat planted area was estimated at 30.6 million acres, down 2% from 2019. Area harvested for grain was forecast at 23.4 million acres, down 4% from last year.

Alfalfa hay acreage in Virginia was estimated at 40,000 acres, down 5,000 from the 2019 crop. All other hay was estimated at 1.13 million acres, up 30,000 from a year ago. The U.S. all hay acreage was estimated at 52.4 million acres, down slightly from 2019.

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