May 7, 2007
Argentina's soy harvest advances, corn pace slow
Argentina pushed forward with the 2006/07 soy harvest despite wet conditions over the past week, while the corn harvest pace slowed as farmers focused on soy collection, the Agriculture Secretariat said in its weekly crop report Friday (May 4).
Soy
Farmers harvested 59 percent of the 2006/07 soy crop as of May 3, compared with 75 percent at the same point a year ago, according to the Secretariat.
The harvest advanced 13 percentage points from a week earlier.
The Secretariat and the USDA see a record 45.5 million tonnes of soybeans coming from the 2006/07 crop.
Corn
Soils are too wet to support harvest machinery in many areas planted with corn and farmers continue to focus on the soy harvest over corn, the Secretariat said.
Farmers have harvested 44 percent of the 2006/07 corn crop, compared with 55 percent at the same date a year ago.
The Secretariat forecasts 22 million tonnes of corn coming from this year's crop, while the USDA pegs output at 22 million tonnes.
Sunseed
Farmers have collected 99 percent of the sunseed crop, in line with the harvest pace at the same date a year ago.
The Secretariat and the USDA sees 2006/07 sunseed production of 3.5 million tonnes.
Estimates for Argentina's 2006/07 crop production in millions of tonnes:
Wheat Soy Corn Sunseed
Agriculture Secretariat 14 45.5 22 3.5
USDA 14.2 45.5 22 3.5
B.A. Cereals Exchange 13.8 46 22.5 3.4
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
