August 9, 2004

Argentina's 2004-05 Wheat 91% Planted
 
Argentina's farmers will have planted 90.5% of the country's 2004-05 wheat crop by Aug. 7, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange said.
 
This puts the pace of planting up from a year ago at this time, when 88.3% of the crop had been planted, the exchange said.
 
However, planted area is up this year. Area is seen at 6.15 million hectares, compared with 5.92 million a year ago. Some 5.32 million hectares have been planted so far.
 
If the estimate for planted area holds, area would rise 3.9% from the previous year.
 
As with last week, the crop received a healthy dose of precipitation, particularly in the provinces of Buenos Aires and La Pampa, which account for around 68% of production, the exchange said.
 
Argentina produced 14 million metric tons of wheat in 2003-04, according to exchange data.
 
The Agriculture Secretariat has said 2003-04 production totaled 14.5 million tons.
 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts that 2004-05 production will total 14 million tons.
 
Argentine wheat usually is planted between May and August. The crop is harvested between October and January.
 
SUNSEED
 
Meanwhile, farmers have begun planting the 2004-05 sunseed crop, the exchange said.
 
As of Saturday, farmers will have planted 0.4% of the crop, which is estimated to occupy about 2.15 million hectares. So far about 8,000 hectares have been seeded.
 
In 2003-04, Argentina produced 3.35 million tons of sunseed, according to the exchange.