July 4, 2006

Argentina Exchange sees 2006/07 wheat area at 5.53 million hectares

Argentine farmers will plant 5.53 million hectares of 2006/07 wheat, much less than originally expected, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange reported Monday (Jul 3), citing bad weather.

Farmers had planted 48.8 percent of the crop by Friday, which puts the planting pace up from 37 percent a week ago.

The pace is up 6.6 points from a year earlier.

So far, farmers have planted 2,698,622 hectares. The Exchange had expected planted area to total 5.7 million hectares.

Last year, area totaled just 5.2 million hectares.

In 2005/06, Argentina produced 12 million tonnes of wheat, according to the Exchange. That was down from 16.345 million tonnes a year earlier, when good weather helped lift yields on a bigger planted area.

The US Department of Agriculture has forecast Argentina's 2006/07 wheat crop at 14.3 million tonnes.