By David Miller, Consulting Chief Economist, Decision Innovation Solutions
USDA released the 2026 Prospective Plantings report on March 31, 2026. It shows U.S. farmers are planning to cut back on corn acres and plant more soybeans. The estimated acres to be planted to corn are 95.3 million acres, down 3.45 million acres from 2025 plantings, and the estimated acres that will be planted to soybeans at 84.7 million acres, up 1.2 million acres (Figure 1).
Corn acreage in the U.S., while variable year-to-year, has been rising with the annual average increase of 623,000 acres per year since 2000. Soybean acreage in the U.S. is also rising, increasing by an average of 600,000 acres per year since 2000. On average, over the past 25 years, farmers have planted 8.9 million more acres of corn than soybeans. The greatest difference was in 2007 when farmers planted 28.8 million acres more corn than soybeans. The least difference since 2000 was in 2018 when farmers planted 346,000 more acres of soybeans than corn.
For 2026, Iowa plans to plant the most corn acres with 13.1 million acres intended to be planted. That is followed by Illinois (10.9 million acres), Nebraska (10.3 million acres), Minnesota (8.6 million acres), and Kansas (7.1 million acres). Figure 2 shows the states that have 2026 intended plantings of corn acres of 1 million or more acres.
For 2026, Illinois plans to plant the most soybeans acres with 10.5 million acres intended to be planted. This is followed by Iowa (9.9 million acres), Minnesota (7.3 million acres), North Dakota (6.7 million acres), and South Dakota (5.6 million acres). Figure 3 shows the states for which intended soybean planted acres are at 1 million or more acres.
