November 22, 2005

 

Argentina's 2005-06 soybeans 50 percent planted

 

 

Amid fresh rain, Argentina's farmers moved quickly to plant the 2005-06 soybean crops last week, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange reported Monday.

 

"Planting was interrupted frequently by rain, although this is very favourable for the accumulation of moisture in the soil," the Exchange said.

 

As of Saturday, farmers had planted 50 percent of the 2005-06 soybean crops, lifting the planting pace from about 32 percent a week ago. The pace is down 1.5 percentage points from a year earlier, but the area is nearly a million hectares larger than a year ago.

 

The Exchange expects farmers to plant a record 15.6 million hectares of soy this season, up from 14.67 million hectares a year earlier. As of Saturday, they had sown 7.803 million hectares.

 

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

 

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

 

 

Corn

 

Meanwhile, fresh rain slowed the planting of the 2005-06 corn crops.

 

Farmers had planted 72.6 percent of the crop by Saturday, putting the planting pace up from 69 percent a week ago but down 7.4 percentage points compared with a year ago.

 

Despite the rain, the soil in key production areas lacks moisture, the Exchange said. Even so, the crop is in good shape in major production regions.

 

"The condition of planted crops ranges from good to very good in the main corn zone, and is finishing the vegetative stages with very good foliar development in the central areas of Santa Fe and eastern Cordoba," the Exchange said.

 

The Exchange expects farmers to sow 15.2 percent less corn this year on 2.23 million hectares, compared with 2.63 million hectares a year ago. The reduced planting is 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 1,617,990 hectares, the Exchange said.

 

In 2004-05 Argentina produced a record 19.7 million tonne of corns, up from 13.1 million tonnes a year ago. Good 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 last season was a record 7.58 tonnes/hectare, up from 6.28/tonnes a year ago.

 

The USDA has forecast Argentina's 2005-06 corn output at 17.3 million tonnes with an average yield of 7.2 tonnes/hectares.

 

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