March 16, 2010

 

Favourable weather benefits Argentine corn, soy harvest

Argentine producers forged ahead with the 2009-10 corn and soy harvests last week due to drier weather in many growing areas and most crops remain in good condition, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

 

The ministry, which estimates 2009-10 corn production in the world's No. 2 exporter at between 19 million and 21 million tonnes, said harvesting of the cereal had picked up as sodden farm tracks started to dry out.

 

"In Casilda, harvesting could continue because there wasn't any rain," the ministry said in a weekly crop progress report, adding that bumper yields of up to 14 tonnes per hectare were being registered in that district of Santa Fe province.

 

Santa Fe province is Argentina's third-biggest corn-producing district after Cordoba and Buenos Aires.

 

Despite flooding and wet farm roads, growers in the Laboulaye district of Cordoba pressed on with gathering and yields were above eight tonnes per hectare, the report said.

 

By Thursday (Mar 11), growers had gathered 11% of the estimated area of 3.25 million hectares (8.03 million acres), up seven percentage points from the prior week and outpacing last season's harvest by seven points.

 

Last year's drought-hit corn harvest came in at 13.1 million tonnes, according to government data.

 

Argentine soy crops remain healthy in most farming areas thanks to the plentiful rains of recent months, but fungal diseases are suspected of causing some damage to yields, the ministry report said.

 

Argentina, the world's No. 3 soy exporter and the top global supplier of its oil and meal, was badly hit by drought last year, but the recent rains have been excessive in some places, causing flooding and yield-hitting frogeye leaf spot.

 

Harvesting continued last week in Marcos Juarez district in Cordoba, the No. 1 soy-producing area, and average yields were between 3.8 tonnes and four tonnes per hectare.

 

Argentina's government has not yet forecast 2009-10 soy output but the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange sees production of 53.5 million tonnes, just above the USDA outlook of 53 million tonnes.