September 28, 2004

Argentina's 2004-05 Corn 15.5% Planted As Of Friday
 
As of Friday, Argentina's farmers had planted 15.5% of the 2004-05 corn crop, Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange said Monday. This puts the pace of planting in line with that of a year ago.
 
The exchange expects farmers to plant 2.48 million hectares of commercially tradable corn, compared with 2.23 million a year earlier. The total area of all corn is expected to reach 3.15 million hectares.
 
A lack of rain in northern provinces has made it hard for farmers to plant corn this season.
 
"Planting continues to be paralyzed in center-north parts of the Pampas," the exchange said. "Rain isn't falling and the permanence of dry conditions is impeding planting in northern parts of Cordoba and Santa Fe."
 
The exchange cautioned that its estimate for planted area relies heavily on the assumption that farmers will receive adequate rainfall this season. If not, "the estimated area could suffer reductions."
 
As of Friday farmers had planted 384,950 hectares.
 
Argentina produced 13.1 million tons of corn in 2003-04, according to the exchange. The USDA has forecast 2004-05 output at 15.5 million tons.
 
SUNSEED
 
Meanwhile, farmers made only minimal progress on the planting of the 2004-05 sunseed crop.
 
As of Friday farmers had planted 16.9% of the crop, barely up from 16.5% a week ago, the exchange said. By this time last year, farmers had planted 18.9% of the crop.
 
The exchange sees planted area at 1.87 million hectares, up slightly from 1.8 million hectares a year earlier. The increase in part explains why the pace of planting is down from the previous year.
 
The exchange originally expected this year's crop to be bigger, but a lack of rain in Chaco and Santiago del Estero made it hard to plant there.
 
As of Friday some 316,750 hectares had been seeded.
 
In 2003-04, Argentina produced 3.15 million tons of sunseed, according to the exchange.
 
The USDA has forecast 2004-05 sunseed production at around 4 million tons.