May 15, 2007

 

Argentina's corn harvest lags; focus on soy

 

 

Argentina continued to advance on the 2006/07 soy harvest, while the pace of corn harvest continued to lag as farmers focused efforts in bringing in the mature soybeans, the Agriculture Secretariat said in its weekly crop report Monday (May 14).

 

 

Soy

 

Farmers had harvested 66 percent of the 2006/07 soy crop as of May 10, compared with 81 percent at the same point a year ago, according to the Secretariat.

 

The Secretariat and the USDA see a record 45.5 million tonnes of soybeans coming from the 2006/07 crop.

 

 

Corn

 

Farmers are prioritising soy harvest and high moisture levels in the corn crop is slowing harvest, the Secretariat said.

 

Farmers had harvested 51 percent of the 2006/07 corn crop, 12 percentage points behind the harvest pace a year ago.

 

The Secretariat and the USDA forecast 22 million tonnes of corn coming from this year's crop.

 

 

Sunseed

 

Farmers had 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