Scattered but sometimes heavy rains in Argentina last week benefited the 2004/05 wheat crop and permitted farmers to keep seeding soybeans, corn and sunflower seeds, the government said on Monday. Farmers are already gathering wheat in Cordoba, Santa Fe and Entre Rios, and harvesting will begin before month's end in northern Buenos Aires province, the top wheat producer. Rains have helped the crop during its final kernel-filling stage.
In Buenos Aires province generally, "the wheat crop is developing normally and good yields are forecast for this season," the agriculture department said in its weekly crop report, current to Friday.
In Tandil, in southern Buenos Aires, an unusual frost damaged wheat plants, but it is not clear to what extent. The US Department of Agriculture forecasts Argentina's 2004/05 wheat crop at 15 million tonnes, while the local government sees output between 14 million and 15 million tonnes.
Argentine farmers continued seeding 2004/05 soybeans last week, although plantings were halted in a few areas due to too much rain. By Friday, farmers had seeded 47 percent of the forecast soybean area, outpacing last season's planting rhythm by 13 percentage points.
Near Canada de Gomez in southern Santa Fe province, the top soy producer, soil moisture conditions are ripe for both seedings and the emergence of soy plants. But nearby in Casilda, heavy rains last week slowed the pace of planting.
In some parts of Buenos Aires province, the No 3 soybean producer, lower-than-normal temperatures are retarding the emergence of seedlings, the report stated.
The USDA puts Argentina's 2004/05 soy crop at 39 million tonnes. The local government has yet to release an output forecast, but it sees farmers planting 14.2 million hectares with soy, unchanged from last season.
The progress of corn seedings was slow again last week, in part because some producers have shifted to planting soybeans.
By Friday, farmers had seeded 76 percent of the 3.2 million hectares forecast for corn, beating last year's pace by 13 percentage points. Corn plantings rose just 2 percentage points over the prior week, whereas soy seedings jumped 10 points.
In west-central Buenos Aires province, the top corn grower, plants are developing slowly due to dry topsoil and low temperatures.
The USDA puts Argentina's 2004/05 corn output at 15.5 million tonnes; the local government has yet to release a production estimate.
Farmers also advanced on 2004/05 sunflower seed plantings last week. They have seeded 84 percent of the 1.86 million hectares they are forecast to plant, outpacing last year's tempo by 4 percentage points. The figures in the following chart are expressed in millions of hectares.
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