The United States Department of Agriculture said today that approximately 78.9 million acres of corn will be harvested this year, which accounts for 90.4 percent of total acres planted, Bloomberg reported.

This percentage aligns with average harvest figures over the last eight years, but still remains less than the 92.4 percent harvest rate of 2007. With flooding raising many concerns over the last few weeks, 2008’s predicted harvest acreage is substantially above the percentage after the floods of 1993, when harvested acreage fell to 85.9 percent of the planted acreage.

Farmers seeded more acres with corn than they indicated in March as prices increased to record highs and as soybean planting was reduced due to flooding. Soybeans were planted on 74.533 million acres, which is down from the March forecast of 74.793 million acres, the USDA said. The harvest for soybeans is expected to be 72.1 million acres, which accounts for 96.8 percent of this year’s planted acreage.

Farmers harvested 98.7 percent of planted land last year and since 2000 have harvested 98.4 percent of total seeded acres. Last year’s corn crop was valued at $52.1 billion, and soybeans were valued at $26.8 billion, government officials said.