Record High Soybean Seedings

WASHINGTON - Jun 30/09 - SNS -- Soybean planted area for 2009 is estimated at a record high 77.5 million acres, up 2% from last year, according to the USDA's preliminary seeded estimates for the year.

Planted area increased from last year in 22 out of 31 States, and is the largest U.S. planted acreage on record. Area for harvest is forecast at 76.5 million acres, up 3% from 2008, and will also be the largest on record, if realized.

Growers in the 11 major soybean-producing States (Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, and South Dakota) planted 61.5 million acres, up 2% from 2008. Compared with last year, the largest increase is in Kansas, up 300,000 acres.

Acreage increases of 200,000 acres or more also occurred in Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The increase is largely due to tight soybean supplies and high prices. Record high planted acreage is estimated in Kansas, New York, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania.

Producers planted 91% of the 2009 soybean acreage to herbicide resistant seed varieties, down 1 percentage point from 2008.

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