This full-text annual report presents acreage by planted and/or harvested areas by state for corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, barley, rye, sorghum, rice, peanuts, sunflower, flaxseed, canola, rapeseed, safflower, mustard seed, cotton, dry beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, sugarbeets, alfalfa hay, tobacco, and sugarcane. Starting in 2000, genetically modified plants are reported for selected crops. The Acreage report is a supplement to Crop Production, and the 1986, 1987, 1988, and 1989 issues of Acreage are included in the July Crop Production report itself.

Agricultural Outlook (AO) ceased publication in December 2002. A new magazine, AmberWaves, replaced Agricultural Outlook, FoodReview, and Rural America in February 2003. This archive contains AO publications covering commodity markets and trade, farm policy, and other food- and agriculture-related topics. Each release includes data on individual commodities, farm income, the general economy, agricultural trade, and related issues.

Commodity and trade outlook data and information continue to be available on the ERS website. Additional commodity- or topic-specific information may be found in ERS Briefing Rooms.

This report contains the expected plantings and last year's harvest for principal crops and tobacco presented on a state basis. Principal crops are as follows: corn, all wheat, winter wheat, durum wheat, other spring wheat, oats, barley, flaxseed, cotton, rice, all sorghum, sweet potatoes, dry edible beans, soybeans, sunflower, peanuts, sugarbeets, canola, and proso millet.

This handbook identifies the usual planting and harvesting dates on a state by state basis for United States field crops covered in the National Agricultural Statistics Service's National program of crop estimates. It updates the information contained in the previous edition of this handbook which was issued in 1997.

The Field Offices of the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service compiled the basic information and prepared the estimates of usual dates based on historical crop progress estimates and the knowledge of industry specialists.