Lag in US spring sowings grows by more than 1.6m acres in a week.

US farmers, tackling a late start to spring, have fallen even further behind on sowings, with the lag expanding by a further 1.6m acres last week, although an improved weather outlook is raising hopes for playing catch-up. Farmers seeded a little over 27m acres of the 219m acres they intended to plant with 10 major spring crops, such as corn, cotton, soybeans and spring wheat. However, a small lag, equivalent to 270,000 acres, opened up in cotton too, while the delay in oat plantings expanded, in percentage terms, to 25 points, equivalent to nearly 700,000 acres in area.