March 14, 2006

Argentina's 2005/06 corn crop 11 percent collected

Argentina's farmers had harvested about 11 percent of the 2005/06 corn crop by Saturday, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange reported Monday (March 13).

The collection pace is down about four percentage points from a year ago at this time, when area was bigger.

As of Saturday, farmers had harvested 245,656 hectares, putting production thus far at 1.440 million tonnes.

The average yield last week was 5.86 tonnes/hectare. The US Department of Agriculture has forecast an average yield of 7.2 tonnes/hectare this season.

The USDA has also forecast Argentina's 2005/06 corn output at 15.5 million tonnes while the Exchange puts it at 14 million tonnes. That's down from about 19.62 million tonnes a year earlier.

Production estimates are lower because farmers planted less corn and dry weather damaged what was planted. The Exchange expects planted area to total 2.26 million hectares, down from 2.63 million hectares a year ago.

The 2005/06 area, including corn grown for use as animal feed, will total 2.85 million hectares, the Exchange said.

Argentines plant corn September through January and harvest it February through July.