Earliest indicators suggest higher wheat plantings in 2025

U.S. winter wheat acreage has declined over the years as farmers have shifted toward planting more corn and soybeans. However, USDA’s first 2025 acreage report, the National Agricultural Statistics Service’s Winter Wheat and Canola Seedings, projects a 2-percent increase in U.S. winter wheat planted area for the 2025/26 marketing year. That puts acreage for the crop—sown in fall of 2024—at 34.1 million acres, which would continue a resurgence in planted area after the historic low of 2020/21. High wheat prices in late 2022 encouraged expanded wheat seedings for the 2023/24 marketing year, but lower prices the next year contributed to a reduced planted area for 2024/25. Acreage estimates for all classes of winter wheat (Hard Red Winter, Soft Red Winter, and White Winter) are projected up slightly for 2025/26. Total wheat acreage for 2025/26 will not be officially estimated until USDA reports on spring wheat classes, including Durum, in late March. The recent acreage report showed Durum plantings in Arizona and California were down from last year, although these two States combined only represented about 4 percent of total Durum wheat acreage last year. This chart first appeared in the USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) January 2025 Wheat Outlook report. Also see the interactive tool highlighted in the ERS Amber Waves article, New Visualization Tool Offers Interactive Ways To Explore Wheat Statistics.