Dry weather speeds Argentine soya harvesting

The harvesting of Argentina's 2010/11 soya crop advanced quickly over the last week thanks to the lack of heavy rains, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange said in a weekly report issued on Thursday. Dry conditions facilitated a faster harvest in the South American country, the world's No 1 soyameal and soyaoil exporter as well as its third-biggest soyabean supplier.
The grains exchange held its forecast for 2010/11 soya production at 48.8 million tonnes, whereas the Rosario grains exchange on Thursday raised its outlook to 49.7 million tonnes from 49.1 million tonnes previously, citing plentiful rains in February. The US Department of Agriculture estimates Argentina's crop will be 49.5 million tonnes, while the Argentine farm ministry predicts a harvest of 50 million tonnes.
In its report, the Buenos Aires grains exchange said it expects final soya yields to reach between 2.6 and 2.7 tonnes per hectare. "The yields vary greatly even within the same region, showing a wide range between the highest and lowest points," the exchange report said. By Thursday, farmers had harvested 14.4 percent of areas planted with soya, which totalled around 18.5 million hectares this season.
The progress marks a 7.4 percentage point gain over the previous week but lags 13.1 points behind the harvest pace at this time last year. Argentina's corn harvest is progressing slowly compared with last season due to the fact that farmers planted relatively late in order to avoid a drought that hit many areas of the country towards the end of last year.
Many agricultural producers are also opting to harvest soya before corn, the report said. By Thursday, farmers had gathered 30 percent of commercial-use corn planted on 3.15 million hectares, rising 6.6 percentage points from a week earlier but trailing 20 points behind last season's harvest pace. Argentina is the world's No 2 corn supplier, and the Buenos Aires exchange held its output estimate steady at 19.5 million tonnes. The Rosario exchange did the same, leaving its forecast for 19.7 million tonnes unchanged. The USDA sees the corn crop at 22.0 million tonnes, while the Argentine government foresees production of 20.8 million tonnes.