U.S. farmers are likely to plant 80 million acres of soybeans and 97.5 million acres of corn next year, closely watched crop forecaster Informa Economics Inc. said Friday, according to traders.

Informa said the corn figure was about the same as its previous projection, while the projected soybean acreage rose 115,000 acres from its last forecast, according to traders.

Informa also forecast U.S. planted acreage of all wheat for 2013 at 56.8 million acres, down 315,000 acres from its last estimate, traders said.

Informa said the forecasts, combined with assumed normal conditions for crops, imply record production of corn and soybeans next year, at 14.6 billion bushels and 3.5 billion bushels respectively, traders said.

U.S. farmers this year planted 96.9 million acres of corn, 77.2 million acres of soybeans and 55.7 million acres of wheat, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

-Write to Owen Fletcher at owen.fletcher@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 19, 2012 11:55 ET (15:55 GMT)
DJ Informa Sees 2013 U.S. Soy Plantings 80 Million Acres -Traders->copyright