Argentina's soy harvest advances, yields high
Argentine farmers have finished gathering most early planted 2009-10 soy and yields remain high in most key growing areas, the Agriculture Ministry said in its latest weekly crop report.
Argentina is the world's No. 3 soy supplier and production is on track to soar to a record of about 54 million tonnes, according to most private forecasts. The government sees output at 52.5 million tonnes.
"In the district of 25 de Mayo, there has been quick progress to harvest early planted beans due to the good weather conditions," said the government report.
It said harvesting should end in the next few days in the district, which lies in the country's No. 2 soy producer, Buenos Aires province. In Laboulaye, in southern Cordoba, 90% of soy area has been harvested and yields varied from 2.0 tonnes per hectare to 3.5 tonnes per hectare.
By Thursday, farmers had gathered 77% of the estimated area of 18.33 million hectares, up 10 percentage points from the prior week but still trailing last season's gathering pace by 8 points.
The South American country, which is also the world's top supplier of soyoil and soymeal, was badly affected by drought last year and soy production slumped to 32 million tonnes.
Meanwhile, Argentine growers are also bringing in 2009-10 corn and the bumper harvest is straining transport infrastructure in some areas, the ministry said.
"With regard to grains transport, there have been shortages this week due to the high yields (and) grains elevators are saturated," the report said, referring to the Bragado district of Buenos Aires province.
By Thursday, farmers had gathered 63% of corn area, climbing 7 percentage points from the prior week but lagging last season's tempo by 18 points. Farmers are prioritising the soy harvest this season.
The country's growers started planting 2010-11 wheat in the Cordoba province districts of Villa Maria and San Francisco, and sowing is also getting under way in the northern provinces of Salta and Jujuy.
