Argentine soy output seen to fall 7.4% next year

Argentina, the third-biggest soy grower and exporter, will harvest 7.4% less next year after a record crop in 2010, according to a USDA agency.

Production will fall to 50 million tonnes from an estimated record of 54 million tonnes this year, as farmers plant less and average yields decline, the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) said.

Exports may fall to 11.5 million tonnes from a projected 12 million tonnes this year, according to the report.

Meanwhile, the Argentine 2009-10 soy output is forecast to come in at a record 55 million tonnes. Despite early concerns that excess rainfall would damage the crop, dryer conditions over the past weeks have eased those worries.

Production is expected to be up sharply from the 32 million tonnes grown last season and the previous record of 48.8 million tonnes grown in the 2006-07 season.