May 5, 2008

Argentina soy harvest 71 percent complete, corn 59 percent  

Argentine farmers advanced rapidly with the 2007-08 soy harvest this week, with 71 percent of the crop harvested to date, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange said in its weekly crop report Friday (May 2, 2008).

The harvest pace is 2.4 percentage points ahead of the same date last season.

Yields are forecast by the exchange at 2.87 to 2.88 metric tonnes per hectare, with total production of 48 million tonnes.

While early frosts in some areas damaged the late soy, these were offset by unexpectedly high yields in other areas, the exchange said.

Corn

To date, 59 percent of the corn crop has been harvested, 4.3 percent ahead of the pace at this time last year, according to the Exchange.

However, strong rainfall last weekend in parts of Cordoba and northern Santa Fe provinces slowed the harvest somewhat.

Yields are forecast at 6.8 tonnes per hectare, with total output at 21 million tonnes, according to the exchange.