# Despite drought and rising costs, Idaho farmers ramp up crop acreage by 2 to 4% - East Idaho News

> USDA's Prospective Plantings report shows Idaho farmers intend to plant about 4.16 million acres of principal crops in 2026, up 2 to 4%. Wheat, barley, oats and dry beans are all up, with oats rising about 25%, while nationwide principal crop acreage edges down to about 310 million acres.

- Date: 2026-05-12 · published 2026-05-12T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: report · region US · magnitude low
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/19319-despite-drought-and-rising-costs-idaho-farmers-ramp-up-crop-acreage-by-2-to-4
- Commodities: [Oats](https://feedsoft.ai/c/OATS.md), [Barley](https://feedsoft.ai/c/BARLEY.md)

## Why it matters

Larger planted oat and barley area in Idaho adds to supply, which is mildly bearish for those feed grains. The national acreage dip is small and largely offsets it.

## Read by commodity

- OATS: bearish ▼
- BARLEY: bearish ▼

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| OATS | 2026-02-08 | [Huge winter crop yields despite dry season for many growers \| Farm Online \| ACT](https://feedsoft.ai/events/20555-huge-winter-crop-yields-despite-dry-season-for-many-growers-farm-online-act.md) | +3.0% | +10.8% |
| OATS | 2026-01-19 | [Big oat crop in 2025/26 pointing to less acres next year - Grainews](https://feedsoft.ai/events/21127-big-oat-crop-in-2025-26-pointing-to-less-acres-next-year-grainews.md) | -0.9% | +3.4% |
| OATS | 2025-08-17 | [Why we could see increased demand for British oats - Farmers Weekly](https://feedsoft.ai/events/23368-why-we-could-see-increased-demand-for-british-oats-farmers-weekly.md) | -4.9% | -4.9% |
| OATS | 2025-11-03 | [Business and Policy November 2025 - Arable \| Helping farmers in Scotland](https://feedsoft.ai/events/22013-business-and-policy-november-2025-arable-helping-farmers-in-scotland.md) | +0.7% | +0.7% |
| OATS | 2026-02-15 | [WA grain posts a new record with 27.35m tonnes as barley stars \| Farm Online \| ACT](https://feedsoft.ai/events/20554-wa-grain-posts-a-new-record-with-27-35m-tonnes-as-barley-stars-farm-online-act.md) | +6.0% | +15.9% |

## Sources

- eastidahonews.com: https://www.eastidahonews.com/2026/05/despite-drought-and-rising-costs-idaho-farmers-ramp-up-crop-acreage-by-2-to-4/

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.