June 15, 2004

Argentina's 2003-04 Soy 97.2% Collected By Saturday
 
An overabundance of rain in northern Argentina once again slowed the work of local farmers last week, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange reported Monday. As of Saturday, farmers had been able to collect 97.2% of the 2003-04 soybean crop, the exchange said.
 
This puts the pace of collection down slightly from 98.8% a year ago, according to the exchange.
 
By Saturday, farmers had harvested an estimated 31.2 million metric tons of 2003-04 soybeans. The exchange has forecast total output of 32.2 million tons, down from 35.27 million a year ago.
 
The Agriculture Secretariat has predicted that 2003-04 soybean output will reach 32 million tons. This estimate falls short of the 34 million tons forecast by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
 
Last year's crop measured 12.8 million hectares of planted beans while this year's area stands at 14.5 million hectares, according to the exchange.
 
As of Saturday, farmers had harvested 13.96 million hectares of soybeans.
 
The average yield last week was 2.24 tons per hectare, down more than 18% from a year ago at this time, the exchange said.
 
This year's crop has suffered because of an extended drought earlier in the campaign that drained the crop of much-needed moisture.