June 8, 2004

Argentina's 2003-2004 Corn Crop 81% Collected

Farmers in Argentina had collected 81% of the 2003-04 corn crop by Friday, the Agriculture Secretariat said.

The pace of collection is up from 77% a week ago, but down from 82% a year ago.

A total of 1,703,560 hectares have been collected so far, while 796,293 hectares have been lost because of bad weather, disease or other problems.

Area stands at 2.894 million hectares, according to the Secretariat.

According to the exchange, collectible area stands at 2.2 million hectares. The exchange said that 85% of the crop had been harvested by Saturday.

The average yield so far is 6.17 tons per hectare, according to the exchange.

Based on the overall average yield so far, the exchange has estimated total production at 13 million tons.

The Secretariat sees 2003-04 corn output at 12.4 million tons, down from about 15 million a year ago.

The USDA has forecast corn output this year at 12.5 million tons.