USDA Prospective Plantings 2026

Planted Acre Signals — Prospective Plantings 2026

Cotton: 9.64M — historically low — supportive for prices 14th percentile

Corn: 95.34M — historically high — bearish pressure 92th percentile

Soybeans: 84.70M — historically high — bearish pressure 86th percentile

Winter Wheat: 32.41M — historically low — supportive for prices 8th percentile

Spring Wheat: 9.41M — historically low — supportive for prices 3th percentile

Planted Acres — Prospective Plantings 2026 (Million Acres)

Crop	2026 Est.	2025 Final	5-Yr Avg	YoY	vs. Avg
Cotton	9.64M	9.28M	11.13M	▲ +3.9%	▼ -13.4%
Corn	95.34M	98.79M	93.08M	▼ -3.5%	▲ +2.4%
Soybeans	84.70M	81.22M	85.34M	▲ +4.3%	▼ -0.8%
Winter Wheat	32.41M	33.15M	34.07M	▼ -2.2%	▼ -4.9%
Spring Wheat	9.41M	9.99M	10.83M	▼ -5.8%	▼ -13.0%

Highlighted rows: change ≥5% vs. prior year (red) or vs. 5-year average (gold). Winter Wheat covers both HRW (KC contract) and SRW (Chicago contract).

Area Competition — Last 12 Years

Planted acres per crop, last 12 years. Source: USDA NASS QuickStats.

Year	Cotton	Corn	Soybeans	Winter Wheat	Spring Wheat
2014	11.15M	90.60M	83.30M	42.41M	13.03M
2015	8.58M	88.02M	82.66M	39.68M	13.37M
2016	10.07M	94.00M	83.45M	36.15M	11.55M
2017	12.72M	90.17M	90.16M	32.73M	11.02M
2018	14.08M	88.82M	89.17M	32.54M	13.20M
2019	13.72M	89.37M	76.10M	31.47M	12.67M
2020	12.09M	90.43M	83.35M	30.45M	12.31M
2021	11.21M	92.90M	87.19M	33.68M	11.42M
2022	13.75M	88.16M	87.45M	33.28M	10.86M
2023	10.23M	94.64M	83.60M	36.70M	11.20M
2024	11.18M	90.91M	87.26M	33.53M	10.68M
2025	9.28M	98.79M	81.22M	33.15M	9.99M
2026	9.64M	95.34M	84.70M	32.41M	9.41M

Cotton competes directly with corn and soybeans for acres in the Southern Delta (MS, AR, TN, MO) and with grain sorghum in the Southern Plains (TX). When corn or soybean economics improve relative to cotton at planting time, cotton acreage tends to fall.

Long-Run Planted Acres Trend

Long-run planted acres trend. Source: USDA NASS QuickStats.

Year	Cotton	Corn	Soybeans	Winter Wheat	Spring Wheat
1996	14.65M	79.23M	64.19M	51.45M	20.03M
1997	13.90M	79.54M	70.00M	47.98M	19.12M
1998	13.39M	80.17M	72.03M	46.45M	15.57M
1999	14.87M	77.39M	73.73M	43.28M	15.35M
2000	15.52M	79.55M	74.27M	43.31M	15.30M
2001	15.77M	75.70M	74.08M	40.94M	15.58M
2002	13.96M	78.89M	73.96M	41.77M	15.64M
2003	13.48M	78.60M	73.40M	45.38M	13.84M
2004	13.66M	80.93M	75.21M	43.32M	13.76M
2005	14.25M	81.78M	72.03M	40.42M	14.04M
2006	15.27M	78.33M	75.52M	40.56M	14.90M
2007	10.83M	93.53M	64.74M	45.01M	13.29M
2008	9.47M	85.98M	75.72M	46.78M	14.12M
2009	9.15M	86.38M	77.45M	43.29M	13.22M
2010	10.97M	88.19M	77.40M	36.58M	13.54M
2011	14.74M	91.94M	75.05M	40.60M	12.34M
2012	12.26M	97.29M	77.20M	40.90M	12.26M
2013	10.41M	95.36M	76.82M	43.23M	11.61M
2014	11.15M	90.60M	83.30M	42.41M	13.03M
2015	8.58M	88.02M	82.66M	39.68M	13.37M
2016	10.07M	94.00M	83.45M	36.15M	11.55M
2017	12.72M	90.17M	90.16M	32.73M	11.02M
2018	14.08M	88.82M	89.17M	32.54M	13.20M
2019	13.72M	89.37M	76.10M	31.47M	12.67M
2020	12.09M	90.43M	83.35M	30.45M	12.31M
2021	11.21M	92.90M	87.19M	33.68M	11.42M
2022	13.75M	88.16M	87.45M	33.28M	10.86M
2023	10.23M	94.64M	83.60M	36.70M	11.20M
2024	11.18M	90.91M	87.26M	33.53M	10.68M
2025	9.28M	98.79M	81.22M	33.15M	9.99M
2026	9.64M	95.34M	84.70M	32.41M	9.41M

USDA Prospective Plantings 2026 — May 2026 Data through: NASS: May 2026 Source: SoftSignal Research | https://reports.getsoftsignal.com/2026/acreage_d958a0f9.html PLANTED ACRES: Cotton 9.64M acres Corn 95.34M acres Soybeans 84.70M acres Winter Wheat 32.41M acres Spring Wheat 9.41M acres

USDA Prospective Plantings · Cotton · Corn · Soybeans · Winter Wheat · Spring Wheat
Data: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service — QuickStats

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