October 29, 2007

 

Argentina soy crop 4.5 percent planted; conditions good

 

 

Argentina's farmers have planted 4.5 percent of the estimated 16.8 million hectares seen going to soy this season, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange said in its weekly crop report Friday (October 26).

 

Good moisture levels are allowing for widespread seeding, with the planting pace 2 percentage points ahead of the pace at this time last season, the Exchange said.

 

This year's soy area is expected to be up 4.3 percent from the record 16.1 million hectares planted in 2006/07, according to the exchange.

 

Wheat

 

To date, 2.11 percent of the 2007/08 wheat crop has been harvested, 4.6 percentage points behind the pace at this time last year. An unusually cold winter slowed development of this year's crop, the exchange said.

 

According to the exchange, 74 percent of the wheat crop is in good or very good condition, in line with last week. About 19 percent is in average condition, 6 percent is in poor condition and 1 percent is in very poor condition.

 

Farmers planted 5.4 million hectares of wheat this season, according to the exchange.

 

The Agriculture Secretariat sees this year's wheat crop producing 14.5 million to 15.3 million tonnes of the grain.

 

The USDA sees production of 14.5 million tonnes, down slightly from 14.6 million tonnes last season.

 

Corn

 

Corn planting is finishing up in the central farm belt while seeding in the peripheral areas is moving forward quickly, according to the exchange.

 

As of Friday, farmers had planted 65.6 percent of the 2007/08 corn crop, an 11.9 percentage-point increase from last week, according to the exchange. The planting pace is 13.7 percentage points ahead of the pace a year earlier.

 

The USDA forecasts production of 22.5 million tonnes, up from 21.8 million tonnes last season.

 

Sunseed

 

To date, farmers have planted 44.3 percent of the 2.67 million hectares seen going to sunseeds, in line with last year's pace, according to the Buenos Aires exchange.