March 23, 2009
Argentina soy harvest moves forward, but yields low
Farmers made good progress in the 2008-09 soy harvest in the week, but average yields are still poor due to early drought damage, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange said in its weekly crop report Friday (Mar 20).
To date, 6.7 percent of the 17.36 million hectares planted with soy this season have been harvested, up 4.3 percent from the pace last season.
Yields have averaged 2.28 tonnes per hectare, down 0.75 tonnes from the average at this point last year.
Crop conditions have improved due to recent rainfall, but there are concerns that the crop will be susceptible to early frosts due to drought-delayed planting in many areas.
The exchange estimates output this season at 42.5 million tonnes.
Corn
Farmers have harvested 22.2 percent of the 2008-09 corn crop to date, with yields averaging 5.81 tonnes per hectare.
Production is forecast at 13.8 million tonnes, but that estimate may be revised downward as the extent of drought and frost damage becomes clearer, the exchange said.
Sunflower Seeds
About 80 percent of the 2 million hectares planted with sunflower seeds have been harvested to date, 20-percent ahead of the harvest pace last season.
The exchange slightly increased its production forecast to 3 million tonnes, up from 2.9 million tonnes estimated the previous week. However, production is still expected to be down sharply from the 4.65 million tonnes grown last season.
Decreased planting and drought through much of the growing season stunted output this season.
|
|
Wheat |
Soy |
Corn |
Sunseed |
|
B.A. Cereals Exh |
8.7MT |
42.5MT |
13.8MT |
3MT |
|
Agriculture Sec't |
8.3MT |
17HA |
12.5 - 13.8MT |
2.4MT |
|
USDA |
8.4MT |
43MT |
13.5MT |
3MT |
|
Rosario Exch |
-- |
41.7MT |
14MT |
-- |
|
CREA |
-- |
40 - 42MT |
-- |
-- |
|
Ricardo Baccarin* |
-- |
42MT |
-- |
-- |
|
Adrian Seltzer* |
-- |
41-43.5MT |
-- |
-- |
|
Pablo Adreani* |
-- |
37MT |
-- |
-- |
|
Francisco Mariani* |
-- |
38-39MT |
12-13MT |
2.8-3MT |
|
*Ricarco Baccarin is vice president of Panagricola S.A., Adrian Seltzer is an analyst at Granar S.A., Pablo Adreani from AgriPac Consultores, and Francisco Mariani from Lartirigoyen S.A. | ||||
