August 25, 2008

Argentina's 2007-08 wheat planting is virtually complete, with 99 percent of the forecast 4.5 million hectares sown as of August 21, the Agriculture Secretariat said Friday (August 22).

On Thursday, the Argentina secretariat trimmed its forecast for 08-09 wheat planting by 200,000 hectares as dry weather prevented planting in many areas. The insufficient rainfall is also hindering development of the young crop.

The secretariat has not given output forecast yet, but last week the USDA lowered its forecast for 2008-09 wheat production by 1 million tonnes to 13.5 million tonnes.

The dry weather during key planting periods and a series of farm strikes from March through June are blamed for the reduced planting area.

The 2007-08 corn harvest is virtually complete with output pegged by the secretariat at 20.4 million tons.

New crop corn planting has not started yet, but on Thursday the secretariat said that 3.6 million to 3.8 million hectares will be used to grow corn this season, a 5 to 10-percent drop from last year.

The corn area is expected to fall as relatively high input costs and export limits imposed by the government will spur a shift to soyb and sunflower seeds, according to analysts.