January 15, 2010

 

2009-10 corn crop progressing well in Argentina

Argentina has nearly finished planting the 2009-10 corn crop, with 97.3% of the 2.26 million hectares done and developing well.

 

According to the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange, steady showers over the past two months have improved soil moisture and aided with crop development, even in areas that suffered from a severe drought in 2008 and 2009. The exchange classified the developing crop as "good" to "very good."

 

If conditions remain favourable, the country will harvest more than 16.5 million tonnes, the exchange said. On January 11, Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said Argentina is on track to produce between 16.5 million and 17.5 million tonnes of corn.

 

A drought hurt the corn crop in the 2008-09 season, causing output to plunge to 13.1 million tonnes from 22 million in the 2007-08 season, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

 

The Agriculture Ministry forecasts total corn planting of 3.1 million hectares. The Rosario Grain Exchange sees total corn output of 13 million tonnes.

 

Planting of the 2009-2010 soy crop is progressing at a slower-than-expected pace as frequent showers prevented planting of the remaining fields over the past week, with 98.5% of the crop now in the ground, the Buenos Aires Exchange said.

 

A forecast for steady showers over the next week will keep these last fields from being planted, as farmers wait for better conditions, it said. Even so, the rain will help with development of crops already in the ground, it added.

 

The Buenos Aires Exchange expects a record 19 million hectares to be planted with the oilseed this season, up from 17.75 million in the 2008-09 season.

 

The Agriculture Ministry forecasts soy planting area at a record 18.2 million hectares this season. The Rosario Grain Exchange forecasts soy production of 50.8 million tonnes, while the USDA expects 53 million tonnes.

 

Farmers are pressing ahead with the harvest of the 2009-10 wheat crop, with expectations of finishing by this weekend if storms do not impede the effort, the Buenos Aires Exchange said.

 

To date, 97.9% of the crop was harvested, with yields averaging 2.69 tonnes per hectare, up from the previous week's average yield of 2.62 tonnes, the Buenos Aires Exchange said. It is also up from the average yield of 2.12 tonnes per hectare at this point last season, when the crop was battered by severe drought.

 

The Buenos Aires Exchange expects farmers to bring in a total of 7.5 million tonnes of wheat.

 

The Agriculture Ministry estimates production of 7 million tonnes. Farmers trimmed wheat planting in the 2009-10 season to an estimated 3.1 million hectares from 4.7 million in the previous season as export controls on wheat and drought during planting time led them to shift to other crops, such as the more profitable soy. The drought extended throughout most of the growing season in the south of Buenos Aires and in the western fringe of the farm belt.