November 28, 2005
Argentina's 2005-06 soybean crop 56 percent planted
Farmers in Argentina had planted 56 percent of the 2005-06 soybean crop by Thursday, the Agriculture Secretariat said Friday.
That puts the planting pace up from 46 percent a week ago and down slightly from 57 percent a year ago, even though area is up more than a million hectares from last season.
Planted area is forecast at a record 15.11 million hectares, up from the 14.4 million hectares previously. As of Thursday farmers had sown 8,489,330 hectares of soybeans.
The Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange has estimated planted area at 15.6 million hectares, up from 14.67 million hectares a year earlier.
The USDA has forecast Argentina's 2005-06 soybean output at a record 40.5 million tonnes, up from the previous record of 39 million tonnes a year ago.
About 85 percent of the area planted so far is located in the provinces of Buenos, Cordoba and Santa Fe, according to the Secretariat.
Corn
Farmers had planted 74 percent of the 2005-06 corn crop by Thursday, up from 70 percent a week ago. The pace is down from 79 percent a year ago, even though area is down 8.7 percent this season.
The Secretariat sees area at 3.055 million hectares, down from 3.348 million hectares a year earlier.
As of Thursday farmers had planted 2,256,400 hectares.
A combination of low corn prices, rising input and planting costs, a 20-percent export tax and a drought have led many farmers to plant less this season.
"The crop is for the most part emerged and with 4-8 leaves," the Secretariat said, describing corn in Buenos Aires Province, which is home to 26.6 percent of the nation's planted area.
The USDA has forecast Argentina's 2005-06 corn production at 17.5 million tonnes, down from 19.5 million tonnes in 2004-05.
The Exchange has estimated planted area this season at 2.23 million hectares, compared with 2.63 million hectares a year earlier.
The Exchange's estimate does not include corn grown strictly for use as animal feed.
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