February 19, 2009
Argentina soy forecast upped 17 million hectares
Argentina's Agriculture Secretariat raised its forecast for 2008-09 soy planting on Wednesday (February 18) to 17 million hectares from 16.5 million hectares forecast last month.
Recent showers helped farmers complete late planting and have "generated good expectations for future yields," the secretary said in its monthly crop report.
The forecast for sunflower seed area was trimmed to 2.4 million tonnes, compared with the 2.5 million to 3 million tonnes estimated last month.
The 2008-09 corn crop was forecast for the first time at 12.5 million to 13.8 million tonnes, down sharply from the 20.5 million tonnes grown last season.
