With the USDA Prospective Plantings report — one closely watched by the entire marketplace and seen as having a ton of market-moving potential — slated for release Wednesday morning, new information shows that farmers could plant as many as 93.4 million acres of corn this spring based on seed sales and fertilizer applications going as far back as last fall. There remain flex acres in the Southeast and northern Plains — where drought is hitting farmers in places like North Dakota hard — and Wednesday’s report could go a long way to firming up planting decisions on those acres. While estimates top out north of 93 million acres for corn, others say the range is between 90 and 92 million, with around 88 to 89 million acres forecast for soybeans. That’s largely based specifically on anhydrous applications; one cooperative sales manager said this week he saw a 50% increase in fall anhydrous applications in 2020 compared to the same time window in 2019. Regardless of the preparations made, many say Wednesday’s numbers will cause invariable planting shifts in areas where farmers still have those decisions to make. See more to preview Wednesday’s report.