April 5, 2021

 

 

Climatologists said an upcoming dry spell will help kick off corn and soy harvesting in Argentina, following rains at the country's farm belt since mid-March that has stopped the deterioration of both commodities' yields, Reuters reported.

 

A report by the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said there will be no rainfall in Argentina's agricultural area between April 1 to April 8.

 

The weather forecast is positive news for farmers looking to harvest their 2020/2021 corn and soybeans. Dry weather is good during harvesting as rain results in wet ground, making it difficult to move heavy harvesting combines.

 

Rains in March arrived too late to boost yields that have been affected by hot, dry weather from mid-2020 to February. This had badly affected late-planted soybeans.

 

Isaac Hankes, an analyst at Refinitiv, said there is no more dryness damage since mid-March, and even improvement to yield potential.

 

Hankes said forecast for dry weather comes at the right time for the harvest, in-line with long-term projections for April-May.

The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said 7.9% of this season's corn has been harvested, while soy harvesting has been delayed by rainstorms.

 

In the exchange's weekly crop report, it said only 1% of soy have been harvested because of rains last week, adding that 2021's soy harvesting tempo is lower than 2020 by 7 percentage points.

 

The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange lowered its projections for the 2020/201 soy crop to 44 million tonnes from 46 million tonnes.

 

The Rosario grains exchange also cut its soy harvest projections to 45 million tonnes from 49 million tonnes, citing dry weather and little rain that lasted until February this year.

 

Argentina is the third biggest corn exporter in the world and number one global exporter of soymeal livestock feed.

 

- Reuters