November 8, 2005

 

Argentina soy planting progressing well with fresh rain

 

 

Fresh rain in Argentina main soybean production region last week allowed farmers to make quick progress on the planting of the 2005-06 soybean crop, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange reported Monday.

 

Dry weather delayed planting in some areas, particularly in parts of northern Argentina. However, the problem was not bad enough to crimp progress at the national level.

 

As of Saturday, farmers had planted 17.1 percent of the 2005-06 soybean crop, lifting the pace of planting from around 2 percent a week ago and from about 15.5 percent a year earlier.

 

The Exchange expects farmers to plant a record 15.6 million hectares of soy this season, up 6.3 percent from the previous year. As of Saturday they had sown 2.66 million hectares.

 

The USDA has forecast Argentina 2005-06 soybean output at a record 40.5 million tonnes, up from the previous record of 39 million a year ago.

 

Farmers are planting and producing more soy because it is cheaper to cultivate than corn and it fetches more money in commodities markets.

 

 

Corn
 

Meanwhile, growers had sown 64.9 percent of the 2005-06 corn crop by Saturday, putting the planting pace up from about 59 percent a week ago but down 1.5 percentage points from a year ago.

 

Dry weather in parts of Buenos Aires and La Pampa provinces delayed work in those areas, the Exchange said. The Exchange expects farmers to sow 15.2 percent less corn this year as area totals 2.23 million hectares, compared with 2.63 million a year ago.

 

Farmers are planting less mainly because of poor profitability for corn and bad weather.

 

The 2005-06 area, including corn grown for use as animal feed, will total 2.95 million hectares, according to the Exchange.

 

As of Saturday farmers had sown 1,446,160 hectares, the Exchange said.

 

In 2004-05 Argentina produced a record 19.7 million tonnes, up from 13.1 million a year earlier. Great weather, improved use of agri-chemicals and better use of seed varieties helped increase yields to record levels in many areas.

 

The average national yield was a record 7.58 tonnes/hectare, up from 6.28 tonnes/hectare a year ago.

 

The USDA has forecast Argentina 2005-06 corn output at 18 million tonnes with an average yield of 7.2 tonnes/hectares.

 

Argentine corn is planted September through January and harvested May through August.