January 11, 2005

Argentina's 2004-05 Wheat 94% Collected By Saturday

Argentine farmers had collected almost 94% of the 2004-05 wheat crop as of Saturday, putting the pace of collection up from 82% a week ago and in line with the previous year, the latest data from the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange revealed.

A warm, dry climate helped farmers speed the pace of collection from the previous week, the exchange said. 

As of Saturday, farmers had collected 5,623,420 hectares, putting production so far at 15.46 million tons. On the other hand, 178,302 hectares have been lost because of bad weather, disease or other problems, the Secretariat said.

The exchange expects greater yields to boost wheat production to 16.35 million metric tons from 13.7 million tons a year ago.

The final average yield for 2004-05 will total 2.73 tons per hectare, up from 2.33 tons/hectare in the year-earlier period, the exchange estimated.

Planted area totals 6.09 million hectares and around 5.987 million of this will likely be harvested, according to the exchange. Last year, Argentina planted 5.83 million hectares.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has forecast Argentina's 2004-05 wheat output at 15 million tons.