Corn is getting crushed

Corn futures plunged on Thursday after the US Department of Agriculture's estimates of how much of the grain would be farmed beat expectations.

The USDA said farmers are planning to increase their corn seedlings by 6.4% to 93.6 million acres, the third highest level since 1944, according to Reuters.

Corn futures in Chicago dropped 4% to as low as $3.51 a bushel. It was the biggest drop for corn futures since last August.

Soybean futures also fell, but had rebounded into the green in late-afternoon trading.

The USDA's tally for March 1 corn stocks was higher than expected, at 7.808 billion bushels, and the largest for the first quarter in 19 years.

Here's a chart showing the drop in futures:

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