The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s June 30 crop acreage report contained few surprises. Corn planted acreage was increased by 5% from 2024, while soybean acres were down by 4%, all wheat acreage was down by 1%, and all cotton acreage was down by 10%.
Corn planted area for all purposes in 2025 was estimated at 95.2 million acres, up 4.61 million acres from last year, representing the third highest planted acreage in the United States since 1944. Compared with last year, planted acreage was expected to be up or unchanged in 41 of the 48 estimating states. The harvested area was increased by 5% over last year, to 86.8 million acres.
Corn exports may see a record high this year, due in part to a weakening dollar and also to increased domestic use. Mexico is this year’s biggest importer of U.S. corn, as China has stayed out of the U.S. corn markets as a result of ongoing trade negotiations. Brazil’s safrinha corn crop is getting excess rain and may face quality issues later.
The USDA’s National Agricultural Statistical Service reported harvested sorghum of 5.34 million acres. Due to trade disputes, China has largely exited the U.S. sorghum markets. China slapped additional tariffs on U.S. sorghum beginning at 10% to 15%. Previously, U.S. sorghum was a popular feedstock for baijiu, a distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented sorghum.
Soybean acres down
Soybean planted area for 2025 was estimated at 83.4 million acres. Compared with last year, planted acreage was down or unchanged in 25 of the 29 estimating states. USDA reported that soybean stocks in the U.S. as of June 1 were 27.43 million tons, exceeding analyst expectations and dampening prices. USDA slightly reduced its estimate for planted soybean area in the U.S. for 2025 to 83.38 million acres.
Argentina increased its export duties on soybeans from 26% to 33%, effective July 1. The Environmental Protection Agency’s revised biofuels-friendly rules are also boosting demand for domestic crush.
In a June 30 webinar for Kansas State University, ag economist Dan O’Brien pronounced the soybean export year “OK” so far, with China’s purchases of U.S. soybeans up in the first few months of this year from the previous year thanks to a pre-tariff surge in January and February.
Long-term wheat downtrend
All wheat planted area for 2025 was estimated at 45.5 million acres. Of this total, about 23.6 million acres were hard red winter, 6.1 million acres were soft red winter, and 3.67 million acres were white winter. The 2025 winter wheat planted area, at 33.3 million acres, was down less than 1% from last year, but up slightly from the previous estimate.
Area planted to other spring wheat for 2025 was estimated at 10 million acres, down 5% from the 2024 estimate. Of this total, about 9.44 million acres were hard red spring wheat. Durum planted area for 2025 was estimated at 2.11 million acres, up 2% from the previous year. O’Brien said the acreage declines are part of a long-term downtrend in planted acres for wheat.
Wheat stocks came in slightly higher than expected, O’Brien said, which will “work against” higher prices. He said quality issues could be a wild card in wheat pricing, due to the wet spring and final yields.
Cotton acres declined in all states except Arizona and Kansas. All cotton planted area for 2025 was estimated at 10.1 million acres. Upland area cotton was estimated at 9.95 million acres, down 9% from 2024. American Pima planted area was estimated at 171,000 acres, down 17% from 2024.
David Murray can be reached at [email protected].
