Producers surveyed across the United States intend to plant 95.3 million acres of corn in 2025, up 5% from last year, according to the Prospective Plantings report released by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). Planted acreage intentions for corn are up or unchanged in 40 of the 48 estimating states. Acreage increases of 400,000 acres or more from last year are expected in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, and South Dakota. If realized, the planted area of corn in Idaho, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, and South Dakota will be the largest on record.

Soybean growers intend to plant 83.5 million acres in 2025, down 4% from last year. Acreage decreases from last year of 300,000 or more are expected in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Record high acreage is expected in New York and Ohio.

All wheat planted area for 2025 is estimated at 45.4 million acres, down 2% from 2024.
Winter wheat planted area, at 33.3 million acres, is down 2% from the previous estimate and down less than 1% from last year. Area planted to other spring wheat for 2025 is expected to total 10.0 million acres, down 6% from 2024. Durum wheat planted is expected to total 2.02 million acres for 2025, down 2% from last year.

Hungary

Today, April 2, the Hungarian National Food Chain Safety Office laboratory confirmed the presence of foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus on two farms in Gyur-Moson-Sopron county. These are cattle farms located in Darnózseli and Dunakiliti, with 1,000 and 2,500 head, respectively.

As of April 2, there are four confirmed outbreaks in Hungary.

Slovakia

According to the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture (MAPA), the Slovak veterinary authorities have confirmed the detection of a fifth outbreak of FMD in its territory, on a dairy farm with 3,526 cows, located in the district of Bratislava, bordering Austria and near the Czech Republic. The farm is outside the 10 km radius of the detected outbreaks, but within the additional restriction zone.

EU vaccine bank

In view of the current epidemiological situation, the European Commission has announced that the FMD serotype O vaccine bank has been activated to distribute 500,000 doses for the time being for use in ruminants and swine.

To boost the marketing and export of animal manure, the Dutch Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Safety and Nature (LVVN), Femke Wiersma, has appointed Raymond Knops as delegate for the promotion of exports of organic fertilizers.

In his new role, Knops is to focus initially on exports to neighboring European countries. He will lead three trade missions in Europe, set up international contacts and support the marketing of Dutch fertilizer products abroad.

The LVVN ministry is researching international demand for animal-derived fertilizers and will present the results at a symposium on March 20, 2025.

The export of animal fertilizers is one of the strategies to alleviate the pressure on the domestic manure market. In a parliamentary letter of September 2024, the government presented a comprehensive package of measures including the promotion of animal manure processing, research on its use in plant substrates, the implementation of the RENURE concept, the adaptation of nitrogen excretion coefficients and the regulation of livestock rights trading. Not only an environmental solution, manure exports can also be a source of income for livestock farmers.