October 5, 2004

Argentina's 2004-05 Corn 20% Planted As Of Saturday
 
As of Saturday, Argentina's farmers had planted 20.4% of the 2004-05 corn crop, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange said Monday. This puts the pace of planting up a hair from 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.
 
An extended dry spell is impeding farmers' work in a number of areas, particularly in northern provinces.
 
"The lack of humidity continues to slow planting," the exchange said. "The situation is most worrisome in center-north parts of Cordoba and Santa Fe, though (the excessively dry conditions) extend to the heart of the corn belt in eastern Cordoba, center-south Santa Fe, northern Buenos Aires and center-north Entre Rios."
 
The exchange noted that a lack of rain forecast for the next few days will "complicate" the situation even more.
 
Last week, the exchange said its estimate for planted area is based on the assumption that crops will receive adequate rainfall this season. If not, "the estimated area could suffer reductions," the exchange said.
 
As of Saturday, farmers had planted 505,500 hectares.
 
Argentina produced 13.1 million metric tons of corn in 2003-04, according to the exchange. The USDA has forecast 2004-05 output at 15.5 million tons.
 
SUNSEED
 
Meanwhile, for the second consecutive week farmers made exceptionally little progress on the planting of the 2004-05 sunseed crop.
 
As of Saturday, farmers had planted 17.1% of the crop, up from 16.9% a week ago, the exchange said. By this time last year, farmers had planted 19.1% of the crop.
 
"The insufficient or non-existent rains continue to slow planting in Entre Rios," the exchange said, noting that the lack of rain was also hindering planting in Santiago del Estero.
 
The exchange sees planted area at 1.87 million hectares, up slightly from 1.8 million hectares a year earlier. The increase in area partly explains why the pace of planting is down from the previous ago.
 
As of Saturday, some 319,665 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.