USDA chief economist Joseph Glauber expects farmers to plant about 94 million acres of corn this spring, 2.1 million acres more than the previous year.

Combined wheat, corn and soybean acres are expected to increase by 5.6 million acres, he said at this week’s USDA Outlook Forum held in Washington, DC.

Ethanol use is expected to dip, with USDA projecting demand for 2012-2013 at 4.95 billion bushels, compared to this year’s level of 5 billion bushels.

Increased crop plantings, slowed demand for ethanol and limited feed use compared to previous years will likely result in USDA adding to its estimates for corn ending stocks in 2012-2013.

The result is that now USDA estimates corn prices for 2012-2013 at $5/bushel, down almost 20% from the previous year.

In this report from the CME Group’s Daily Livestock Report (DLR) published by Steve Meyer and Len Steiner, the analysts predict this will be another volatile year “considering uncertainty about the size of current corn stocks, escalating energy prices and dry conditions in key corn production areas.”

For more information from the DLR and to subscribe, go to www.dailylivestockreport.com.