December 26, 2005

 

Argentina's 2005/06 soybeans 83 percent planted

 

 

Argentina's farmers had planted 83 percent of the 2005/06 soybean crop by Thursday, the Agriculture Secretariat said Friday.

 

That puts the planting pace up from 78 percent a week ago, but down from 89 percent a year earlier.

 

Area is up 782,000 hectares from last season, indicating that farmers are planting the 2005/06 crop quickly even though the pace is technically down from the previous year.

 

The Secretariat raised its forecast for area this week to a record 15.182 million hectares, up from 14.4 million hectares previously. As of Thursday, farmers had sown 12.698 million 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.

 

 

Corn

 

Meanwhile, corn farmers had sown 87 percent of the 2005/06 crop by Thursday, lifting the planting pace from 83 percent a week ago.

 

The pace is down from 92 percent a year earlier, largely because dry weather this season has impeded work. The annual pace is slower now even though area is down 8.7 percent from a year earlier.

 

The Secretariat sees area at 3.067 million hectares, down from 3.348 million hectares a year earlier.

 

As of Thursday, farmers had planted 2.676 million hectares.

 

The USDA has forecast Argentina's 2005/06 corn production at 17.3 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.