Agriculturalists projecting what 2013 will bring for growers in the United States have suggested that the total area of field crops planted will fall from 2012 levels, though not by as much as earlier estimates had suggested.

Updates to 2013 planting estimates were unveiled by the US Department of Agriculture at its annual Outlook Forum, being held on Thursday and Friday in Arlington, Virginia. The USDA said growers will plant 255.3 million acres (103m hectares) of the country's eight major field crops in 2013, revised up from 254.5 million (102m ha).

The eight crops are, in order of area; maize, soy, wheat, cotton, sorghum, barley, rice and oats.   

Although plantings of maize, the US' most widely-grown field crop are estimated down from last year's high, at 96.5 million acres (39m ha) compared to 97 last year, they remain significantly above 2010 and 2011 figures. Soy plantings also increased to a record high, while cotton contracted further.  

If weather remains within the normal range in 2013, prices for field crops are set to continue to ease. The effects of drought in 2012 caused prices for many crops to rise sharply. Rain and snow currently falling on the drought-stricken Midwest and Great Plains regions are set to replenish soil moisture, potentially lifting some areas out of drought.

Nevertheless, persistent dry conditions are still causing concern for wheat growers, as quality has suffered under arid conditions. USDA Chief Economist, Joe Glauber cautioned that projections are based on best estimates and there is no way of telling what the weather will bring this season; growers in Central states will be well aware of this, having recently endured the country's worst drought in 50 years.