Argentina cut its 2004/05 wheat area forecast for the second straight month, dropping it to 6.2 million hectares from 6.3 million hectares in July, the government said on Wednesday.
"In the northern wheat-growing region (Chaco and Tucuman provinces) the lack of adequate moisture provoked a drop in the area originally forecast to be seeded with this grain," the local agriculture department said in its monthly crop report.
Dry soil conditions are also affecting the development of already-emerged plants in Cordoba and north-central Santa Fe, the second and third biggest wheat-producing provinces, which could provoke "drops in productivity per hectare."
The US Department of Agriculture puts Argentina's 04/05 wheat production at 14.5 million tonnes. The local government has yet to forecast output.
Argentine farmers planted wheat on 6.0 million hectares in the prior campaign, producing 14.5 million tonnes.
The government also released its first forecast for 2004/05 corn area, putting it at 3.04 million hectares from 2.8 million hectares in the previous cycle.
"It is expected that the area to be seeded will be 8 percent higher than in the prior campaign," the government report stated. The USDA foresees Argentina producing 15.5 million tonnes of 2004/05 corn.
The government hiked for a third straight month its 2003/04 corn crop forecast, raising it to 12.75 million tonnes from 12.7 million tonnes in July. The USDA puts 03/04 corn output at 12.5 million tonnes.
In the 2002/03 campaign, Argentina produced 15 million tonnes of corn. Production fell this year because of harsh climatic conditions and because farmers opted to plant more-profitable soyabeans rather than corn.