Kansas growers expect to plant 19.3 million acres to the four major crops (wheat, sorghum, corn, and soybeans), up 1 percent from 2004. Wheat seeded in the fall of 2004 totaled 10.1 million acres, unchanged from the December forecast but up 1 percent from the previous year.

Sorghum acreage expected to be planted, at 2.90 million acres, is down 9 percent from a year ago. Corn planting intentions totaled 3.40 million, up 10 percent from the 2004 acreage. Soybean planted acreage is expected to be 2.90 million acres, up 4 percent from last year. Oat seedings are expected to be down 8 percent from 2004 at 110,000 acres. Barley seedings, at 20,000 acres, are up from the 15,000 acres planted in 2004.

Sunflower acreage to be planted, at 300,000 acres, is up 75 percent from last year. Oil-type varieties account for 260,000 of the sunflower acreage while non-oil, or confectionary, varieties make up the balance of 40,000 acres. Dry beans, at 9,500 acres, are up 500 acres from the previous year. All hay for harvest, at 3.30 million acres, is down 50,000 acres from 2004. Cotton is expected to be planted on 80,000 acres, down 5,000 acres from last year.

Due to the discovery of Asian soybean rust in the United States and the heightened speculation of how growers would react to the fast-spreading, yield-reducing disease, questions were included in the March Agricultural Survey to measure farmer awareness of Asian soybean rust and how its discovery has affected their planting decisions for the 2005 crop. Results of the survey concluded that it did not affect soybean planting intentions for the majority of Kansas farmers. For the complete results of the survey go to http://www.nass.usda.gov on the Internet.

PROSPECTIVE PLANTINGS - MARCH 1, 2005
Crop	Acreage Planted or to be Planted
	Kansas			United States
	2004	Prospective 2005	2005 as % of 2004	2004	Prospective 2005	2005 as % of 2004
	1,000 Acres		Percent	1,000 Acres		Percent

Wheat, All	10,000	10,100	101	59,674	58,592	98
Winter	10,000	10,100	101	43,350	41,613	96
Durum	-	-	-	2,561	2,608	102
Other Spring	-	-	-	13,763	14,371	104
Sorghum, All	3,200	2,900	91	7,486	7,400	99
Corn, All	3,100	3,400	110	80,930	81,413	101
Soybeans	2,800	2,900	104	75,208	73,910	98
Oats	120	110	92	4,085	4,267	104
Barley	15	20	133	4,527	3,974	88
Hay, All 1/	3,350	3,300	99	61,916	62,940	102
Sunflowers, All	171	300	175	1,873	2,750	147
Beans, Dry Edible	9.0	9.5	106	1,354.3	1,663.5	123
Cotton, All	85.0	80.0	94	13,658.6	13,815.0	101
1/ Acreage for harvest.

Corn growers intend to plant 81.4 million acres of corn for all purposes in 2005, up 1 percent from 2004 and 4 percent above 2003. Soybean producers intend to plant 73.9 million acres in 2005, down 2 percent from last year’s record high acreage. Sorghum plantings are expected to total 7.40 million acres, down 1 percent from last year. The 2005 all wheat planted area is expected to total 58.6 million acres, down 2 percent from 2004. Winter wheat planted area for the 2005 crop is 41.6 million acres, down 4 percent from 2004, but virtually unchanged from the “Winter Wheat Seedings” report. Of the total, about 30.5 million acres are Hard Red Winter, 6.60 million acres Soft Red Winter, and 4.50 million acres are White Winter. Area planted to Durum wheat is expected to total 2.61 million acres, up 2 percent from 2004. The 2005 other spring wheat planted acreage is estimated at 14.4 million acres, up 4 percent from last year. Of the total, about 13.7 million acres are Hard Red Spring wheat. All cotton plantings for 2005 are expected to total 13.8 million acres, 1 percent above last year. Upland acreage is expected to total 13.5 million acres, also a 1 percent increase. Growers intend to increase their plantings of American-Pima cotton to 275,000 acres, up 10 percent from 2004.

Kansas wheat stocks in all positions totaled 126.2 million bushels on March 1, down 34 percent from December 2004 and 25 percent less than last March. Wheat stored in off-farm locations (mills, elevators, warehouses, and processors) totaled 115.2 million bushels and accounted for 91 percent of the total. On-farm stocks totaled 11.0 million bushels, compared with 13.0 million bushels last March.

Sorghum grain in all positions totaled 115.8 million bushels, down 31 percent from December 2004 but 53 percent above a year ago. Off-farm stocks totaled 96.8 million bushels and on-farm stocks totaled 19.0 million bushels.

Kansas corn stocks in all locations, at 206.1 million bushels, were down 32 percent from December but 55 percent above last March. Off-farm stocks, at 141.1 million bushels, accounted for 68 percent of the total corn stocks. On-farm stocks, at 65.0 million bushels, were up 41 percent from the 2004 March stocks.

Kansas soybeans in all locations totaled 47.4 million bushels, down 46 percent from December but 62 percent above the March 2004 level. Off-farm stocks, at 32.4 million bushels, were up 38 percent from last year and accounted for 68 percent of the total soybean stocks. On-farm stocks, at 15.0 million bushels, were up from 5.7 million last year.

STOCKS OF GRAIN - MARCH 1, 2005, WITH COMPARISONS
Grain	Position	Kansas			United States
Grain	Position	Mar. 1, 2004	Dec. 1, 2004	Mar. 1, 2005	Mar. 1, 2004	Dec. 1, 2004	Mar. 1, 2005
		1,000 Bushels
All Wheat	On Farms	13,000	23,000	11,000	257,890	531,020	304,710
	Off Farms 1/	154,613	169,717	115,239	762,727	899,306	676,304
	TOTAL	167,613	192,717	126,239	1,020,617	1,430,326	981,014
Sorghum Grain	On Farms	12,000	48,000	19,000	21,000	78,700	33,400
	Off Farms 1/	63,804	119,775	96,833	137,652	203,505	169,989
	TOTAL	75,804	167,775	115,833	158,652	282,205	203,389
Corn	On Farms	46,000	115,000	65,000	3,030,000	6,144,000	4,137,000
	Off Farms 1/	86,891	189,952	141,138	2,241,459	3,306,598	2,616,738
	TOTAL	132,891	304,952	206,138	5,271,459	9,450,598	6,753,738
Soybeans	On Farms	5,700	32,000	15,000	355,900	1,300,000	795,000
	Off Farms 1/	23,483	56,067	32,358	549,947	1,004,640	585,974
	TOTAL	29,183	88,067	47,358	905,847	2,304,640	1,380,974
Oats	On Farms	*	*	*	45,600	60,400	43,500
	Off Farms 1/	710	716	479	49,414	44,513	39,026
	TOTAL	*	*	*	95,014	104,913	82,526
Barley	On Farms	*	*	*	51,700	130,700	79,680
	Off Farms 1/	30	33	27	101,186	115,276	111,001
	TOTAL	*	*	*	152,886	245,976	190,681
1/ Includes stocks at mills, elevators, warehouses, terminals, & processors. * On-farm stocks are no longer published separately for Kansas.