E-mail: nass-ny@nass.usda.gov
(518) 457-5570

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:  Greg Lemmons
Tuesday, March 31, 2009

www.nass.usda.gov/ny

               RECORD SOYBEAN PLANTINGS EXPECTED IN NEW YORK

Preliminary planting intentions of New York farmers as of March 1, 2009
indicate decreases for barley, wheat, dry hay, and oats, according to
Stephen Ropel, Director of  the USDA’s New York Agricultural Statistics
Service, New York Field Office. Soybeans and corn are expected to
increase.  The dry bean planting intentions are the same as last year.

Empire State farmers intend to plant 1,130,000 acres of corn for all
purposes (grain and silage) for the 2009 crop year, up 4 percent from last
year. Soybean plantings are expected to increase by 13 percent to 260,000
acres which if realized is a record high planted area. Dry bean intentions,
at 17,000 acres, are the same as last year. New York farmers intend to
harvest 1.24 million acres of dry hay in 2009, 6 percent below last year.
Wheat planted acreage totaled 115,000 acres, down 12 percent from 2008. Oat
plantings are expected to total 70,000 acres, down 12 percent from a year
earlier, and is the second lowest acreage on record.  Barley plantings are
expected to total 9,000 acres, 31 percent below last year.

Nationally, corn growers intend to plant 85.0 million acres of corn for all
purposes in 2009, down 1 percent from last year as lower corn prices and
unstable input costs are discouraging some growers from planting corn.  If
realized, this will be the second consecutive year-over-year decrease since
2007 but will still be the third largest acreage since 1949, behind 2007
and 2008.  Expected acreage is down from last year in many States, however,
producers in the 10 major corn-producing States (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin)
collectively intend to plant 66.3 million acres, up slightly from the 66.1
million acres planted last year.



Soybean producers intend to plant 76.0 million acres in 2009, up slightly
from last year.  If realized, the U.S. planted area would be the largest on
record.  Acreage increases of 100,000 acres or more are expected in
Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, North
Dakota, and Ohio.  The largest decreases are expected in Missouri and South
Dakota, both 150,000 acres less than 2008.  If realized, the planted
acreage in Kansas and New York will be the largest on record, and the
planted acreage in North Dakota will tie the previous record high.



All wheat planted area is estimated at 58.6 million acres, down 7 percent
from 2008.  The 2009 winter wheat planted area, at 42.9 million acres, is 7
percent below last year but up 2 percent from the previous estimate.  Of
this total, about 30.9 million acres are Hard Red Winter, 8.38 million
acres are Soft Red Winter, and 3.65 million acres are White Winter.  Area
planted to other spring wheat for 2009 is expected to total 13.3 million
acres, down 6 percent from 2008.  Of this total, about 12.7 million acres
are Hard Red Spring wheat.  The expected Durum planted area for 2009 is
2.45 million acres, down 10 percent from the previous year. The information
in this release is available by free email subscription by subscribing to
New York reports at www.nass.usda.gov/ny.

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1-31-09