June 22, 2006

 

Argentina sees 2006/07 wheat area at 5.6 million hectares

 

 

Argentine farmers will likely plant 5.6 million hectares of wheat in 2006/07, the Agriculture Secretariat said Wednesday (Jun 21) in its monthly crop report.

 

Farmers produced 12.5 million tonnes of wheat in 2005/06 after planting 5.16 million hectares, the Secretariat said. That was a big decline from 16 million tonnes the previous season, when excellent weather boosted area and yields.

 

Argentine wheat is planted May through September and collected October through January. 

 

 

Soy

 

The Secretariat stuck to its forecast that farmers will harvest a record 40 million tonnes of 2005/06 soybeans.

 

The Secretariat also kept its estimate for the planted area of soybeans at 15.2 million hectares, which puts area up 5.6 percent from 14.4 million hectares a year ago.

 

Area is seen up in part because dry weather prevented many farmers from sowing corn or wheat and those fields were planted with soybeans. Farmers, too, stepped up soy acreage because of its higher price compared with other crops, the Secretariat said.

 

In 2004/05, Argentina produced a record 38.3 million tonnes of soy, according to the Secretariat.

 

The US Department of Agriculture has forecast Argentina's 2005/06 soybean output at 40.5 million tonnes.

 

 

Corn

 

The Secretariat also maintained its forecast for 2005/06 corn production at 14 million tonnes.

 

The estimate for the planted area of 2005/06 corn was also unchanged at 3.05 million hectares.

 

If the forecast holds, it would put area down 10.3 percent on the year. Area and output are down mainly because of poor weather during the planting season.

 

Argentina produced a record 20.5 million tonnes during the 2004/05 corn harvest, according to the Secretariat.

 

Production rose because area and yields were up. Excellent weather and better use of agri-chemicals and seed varieties boosted yields to record levels.