October 22, 2010

Argentine farmers speed up soy planting amid threat of summer drought

Argentina's soy crop, the third largest in the world, is being planted at a quicker pace than a year earlier as farmers take advantage of rains in September and October to sow before the Southern Hemisphere summer begins.

About 4.6% of the 2010-11 soy crop, forecast to cover 18.7 million hectares, is planted to date, compared with the 0.2% of the forecast area that was sown in the same period a year earlier, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange said today in an e-mailed report.

The December through February summer months are forecast to be drier than average as a consequence of La Nina, a weather pattern which reduces rainfall. The threat of drought is driving farmers to accelerate planting of soy and corn to take advantage of current soil moisture after recent rains, the exchange said.

Argentina is the third largest exporter of soy after the US and Brazil. Farmers grew a record crop of about 55 million tonnes in the 2009-10 season as the country saw above average rains produced by El Nino, a weather pattern which forms in the Pacific Ocean and affects climate worldwide.
 

Argentina's 2010-11 corn crop, which is forecast to cover 3 million hectares, is 62 % planted, the exchange said. The crop is expected to reach a record 26 million tonnes, according to the agricultural ministry. Argentina is the second largest exporter of corn, behind the US.

The Argentine wheat crop, which is already fully planted, is expected to be about 12.1 million tonnes.