At-Planting Acreage

The "At-Planting Acreage" product provides simulated estimates of real-time, forecast, and climatological data of planting acreage early in the growing season. Like the Planting Progress product, At-Planting Acreage begins in the southern US and progresses northward during the growing season. An example of the At-Planting Acreage product in map form is shown below at the county scale for the conterminous US on June 30, 2008. The At-Planting Acreage product uses the previous years acreage trends to apportion the NASS reported "Prospective Plantings" as a first estimate of the current year's pattern. Strategically-collected satellite imagery in early and mid spring over crop growing areas across the US provides seasonal corrections to early estimates of at-planting acreage.

Since production is over specific geographies, the At-Planting Acreage product is probably the single most important product for estimating acreage and yield at harvest. Significant year-to-year changes in the at-planting acreage of a crop will have a direct impact on the end-of-season yield and acreage.