Argentina kept its 2003/04 soya crop forecast at 32 million tonnes, well below last year's harvest despite the record-high seeding of 14.2 million hectares, the government said on Thursday.
Dry weather throughout the growing cycle and rains during the harvest period caused soyabean yields to drop, the government said. Farmers have harvested some 96 percent of soyabean area nation-wide.
"In the areas yet to be harvested (mainly in Cordoba), heavy rains in recent weeks have further affected yields," the local agriculture department said in its monthly crop report.
The US Department of Agriculture puts Argentine soya production at 34 million tonnes, just shy of last year's record output of 34.8 million tonnes. Argentina is the world's No 3 soya producer, after the United States and Brazil.
For the 2003/04 corn crop, the government raised its output estimate to 12.6 million tonnes from 12.4 million tonnes last month. The USDA sees Argentine corn output at 12.5 million tonnes.
Argentina kept its 2003/04 wheat crop estimate at 14.5 million tonnes, up from 12.3 million tonnes in the prior campaign. The USDA forecasts 2003/04 wheat output at 13.5 million tonnes.
The local government put 2004/05 wheat area at 6.4 million hectares, compared with last month's estimate of between 6.3 million and 6.5 million hectares.
Argentina has yet to release an estimate for 2004/05 wheat production, but the USDA puts the crop at 14 million tonnes.
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