Scattered rains give patchy relief to Argentine corn fields

Storms were forecast for Argentina on Monday after patchy weekend rains failed to moisten many corn and soya fields nearly ruined by a drought that has raised concerns about world food supplies. Weeks of dryness in Argentina, the worlds' No 2 corn exporter and No 3 supplier of soyabeans, could also strain government finances this year as the country tries to dodge fallout from Europe's debt crisis and slackening demand from key trade partners Brazil and China.
Corn and soya growers had been hoping for showers on Saturday and Sunday that would moisten fields dried out by weeks of unforgiving Southern Hemisphere summer sun. But the rain was patchy, leaving many fields dry while refreshing others. The National Meteorological Service on Monday called for showers and storms in parts of Argentina's top farming provinces, Buenos Aires and Cordoba. "It is forecast that during the day some of the storms could be locally intense, accompanied by strong wind, abundant rain and occasional hail," the state weather service said in a statement.
It will already be too late for many corn fields, where plants have roasted to nothing, dashing hopes that Argentina might replenish global supplies depleted by a lackluster US harvest. Soya, which is more resistant to drought thanks to its longer flowering period, has suffered as well.
Argentina's weather has contributed to price increases on the Chicago grains futures market in recent weeks, as traders factor in the threat of lower than expected supply. Corn yields will be slashed by 20 to 50 percent due to the dryness, the government said last week after the Rosario grains exchange cut its 2011/12 corn crop forecast by nearly 18 percent to 21.4 million tonnes.
Until this month, Argentine farmers were sure that the harvest would beat last season's record 23 million tonnes. The country's corn area is centered on the town of Pergamino, in the northern part of Buenos Aires province. "In places like Pergamino they got scattered rains over the weekend. So some guys got enough, like 20 or 50 millimeters, but in other places they got two to five millimeters," Martin Fraguio, executive director of Argentina's main corn industry chamber Maizar.
"We had very good rains on Saturday, but when you look at the map you see that between the good rainfall there were a lot of areas where the rain was scarce," he added. "It's the scatteredness that has kept some farms out of the picture." Buenos Aires-based consultancy Finsoport says Argentina's farm exports in the 2011/12 crop year will total $26.3 billion, down 12 percent from forecasts made before the drought. The government will lose more than $1 billion in revenue as a consequence, it said.