NASS sees Arkansas corn, peanut acres rise, while cotton, soybean acres fall

Stiles said he expects the number of cotton acres in Arkansas is likely lower than the estimate.
By Mary Hightower
U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture

Soybeans getting a drink in Faulkner County. Taken Aug. 7, 2025. (U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture photo by Kevin Lawson)

Fast facts:
USDA lowers estimate of Arkansas soybean, cotton acres

JONESBORO, Ark. — Estimated corn and peanut acres in Arkansas are up since March, while cotton and soybean acreage estimates have been pared back by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“Compared to the March 31 intentions, USDA has been lowering its estimate of soybean and cotton acres in both June and August,” said Scott Stiles, extension economist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. “If true, 2.6 million would be the lowest soybean acreage since 1960. The estimate of cotton acreage is now down to 520,000 from 580,000 in March.”

Stiles said he expects the number of cotton acres in Arkansas is likely lower than the estimate. Stiles weighs in on cotton estimates in his article at Southern Ag Today.
Peanuts added acres, with USDA moving its estimate from 45,000 acres in March to 46,000 in June and 47,000 for August. The corn estimate saw a large jump from 710,000 acres in March to 740,000 in June and 800,000 acres in August.

“Surprisingly, this month's total rice acreage of 1.261 million was unchanged from June 30,” Stiles said. “I was thinking we'd go a bit lower on rice.”

In its Aug. 12 Crop Production report, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service also issued yield estimates for this year’s crop, with corn, rice and cotton lower than 2024, but soybeans higher to a potential new record yield.
        

Arkansas information from August Planted Acres report from the National Agricultural Statistics Service. (U of A System Division of Agriculture chart by Scott Stiles).

NASS will release its next Crop Production report Sept. 12. The report will include results of in-field sampling, which they did not use for the August yield estimates. 
To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu/. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.