March 9, 2004

Argentina's Farmers Begin Collecting 2003-04 Soybean Harvest
 
Argentina's farmers have begun collecting the 2003-04 soybean harvest, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange reported Monday.
 
As of Saturday, farmers had collected just under 1% of the crop, putting production thus far at 213,103 tons.
 
In addition, the exchange raised its estimate for planted area to a record 14.4 million hectares, up from 14.2 million a week ago.
 
Around 135,308 hectares have been harvested so far.
 
The average yield last week totaled 1.57 tons/hectare, according to the exchange.
 
"In general terms, rain from the beginning of last week was very favorable for second crop soybeans in the stages of flowering and the formation of pods, and for first crop beans...in center-south Cordoba and Santa Fe," the exchange said. But the rain "was not totally sufficient in center-north parts of the Pampas region and in other northern provinces."
 
The condition of the crop varies greatly around the country, the exchange said.
 
"In center-west Santa Fe and in northeastern Cordoba, the situation is increasingly worrisome given that recent rain has been insufficient," the exchange said. "Some lots have been entirely lost and others face yields that are 50% below their productive potential."
 
Last year, farmers planted 12.8 million hectares and produced 35.27 million tons of soybeans, according to the exchange.
 
This year around 11.3 million hectares correspond to first-crop soybeans while the rest was planted as second-crop soy, the exchange said.
 
In December, the exchange estimated that 2003-04 soybean production would jump 1.1 million tons from a year ago, putting output at about 36.4 million tons.
 
The USDA estimates 2003-04 soybean production at 36.5 million tons.
 
SUNSEED
 
Finally, farmers made relatively slow progress on the collection of the 2003-04 sunseed crop.
 
As of Saturday, farmers had collected 25.3% of the crop, up just a bit from 22.2% last week but down from 33.9% a year ago.
 
Planted area totals 1.95 million hectares, though only 1.946 million hectares will actually be harvested, the exchange said, citing crop damage.
 
The average yield so far this year is 2.01 tons/hectare, compared with a similar amount a year ago.
 
With adequate rainfall in the weeks ahead, total production will likely total 3.4 million metric tons, the exchange said.