April 10, 2007
Continued rain stalls Argentina corn, soy harvest
Continued rainfall last week prevented Argentina's farmers from making significant advances in the 2006/07 corn, soy and sunseed harvest, the Agriculture Secretariat said in its weekly crop report Monday (Apr 9).
Heavy rainfall has made many roads unusable and prevented farm machinery from entering the fields to harvest, the Secretariat said.
However, conditions improved over the weekend, providing a respite after over two weeks of continued storms.
Soy
Farmers harvested 13 percent of the 2006/07 soy crop as of April 5, compared with 32 percent at the same point a year ago, according to the Secretariat.
Heavy flooding in Cordoba province has left many roads in poor condition and is complicating access to fields, the Secretariat said.
The Secretariat sees a record 45.6 million tonnes of soybeans coming from the 2006/07 crop, while the US Department of Agriculture forecasts production at 44 million tonnes.
Corn
Argentina's farmers have harvested 20 percent of the 2006/07 corn crop, compared with 24 percent at the same date a year ago. The harvest advanced just 1 point from a week earlier due to the wet conditions. In Santa Fe province, all harvest work has been on hold since March 26 due to the heavy rainfall.
The Secretariat forecasts 21.6 million tonnes of corn coming from this year's crop, while the USDA pegs output at 21.5 million tonnes.
Sunseed
Farmers have collected 94 percent of the sunseed crop, up from 91 percent from the same date a year ago.
The Secretariat sees 2006/07 sunseed production of 3.5 million tonnes. The USDA forecasts 4 million tonnes of sunseeds coming from Argentina this year.
Estimates for Argentina's 2006/07 crop production in millions of tonnes:
Wheat Soy Corn Sunseed
Agriculture Secretary 14 45.6 21.6 3.5
USDA 14.2 44 21.5 4
B.A. Cereals Exchange 13.8 45.5 22.5 3.45
Argentina's historical production estimates in millions of tonnes, according to the Agriculture Secretariat:
Wheat Soy Corn Sunseed
2005/06 12.6 40.5 14.5 3.8
2004/05 16 38.3 20.5 3.7
2003/04 14.6 31.6 15 3.1
2002/03 12.3 35 14.7 3.4
2001/02 15.3 30 15.4 3.8