March 21, 2006

 

Argentina's 2005/06 soybean crop 3.9 percent collected

 

 

Farmers in Argentina had harvested 3.9 percent of the 2005/06 soybean crop by Saturday, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange reported Monday (Mar 20).

 

The Exchange did not say how the collection pace compares with that of a year ago.

 

As of Saturday, they had collected 610,688 hectares, putting production so far at 1.29 million tonnes.

 

The average yield last week was 2.11 tonnes/hectare, which is down 24.6 percent from a year ago, when the crop benefited from nearly ideal weather. The Exchange expects yields to increase in future weeks because of heavy rain during parts of January and February. Last week, frequent rain prevented farmers in many areas from harvesting the crop.

 

Planted area totals 15.62 million hectares, up from 14.67 million hectares a year earlier.

 

Last year farmers produced a year 38.85 million tonnes of soy, according to the Exchange.

 

The Exchange has forecast 2005/06 output at 40 million tonnes while the US Department of Agriculture estimates Argentina's soybean production at 40.5 million tonnes.

 

 

Corn

 

Farmers had also harvested 15.1 percent of the 2005/06 corn crop by Saturday, which puts the collection pace down 11.3 percentage points from a year ago at this time.

 

As of Saturday, farmers had harvested 332,152 hectares, putting production so far at 1.915 million tonnes.

 

The average yield last week was 5.77 tonnes/hectare, which is down 22 percent from a year ago because of a long dry spell during key phases of the planting season. Even so, the Exchange expects yields to increase as the harvest proceeds. The average national yield this season will likely total around 6.29 tonnes/hectare.

 

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

 

Production estimates are down because farmers planted less corn and dry weather damaged what was planted. Planted area totals 2.26 million hectares, down from 2.63 million a year ago.

 

The 2005/06 area, including corn grown for use as animal feed, totals around 2.85 million hectares.

 

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