Argentine farmers made brisk progress on the 2010/11 soya harvest this week, thanks to dry weather, but yields are uneven due to excessive dryness earlier in the season, the Agriculture Ministry said on Friday. The ministry estimates this season's crop at 50 million tonnes in the world's third-biggest soyabean exporter.
Severe dryness late last year cut into soya output forecasts for Argentina but rains in January and February improved the outlook. "The harvest continues at a good pace and with uneven yields depending on the area," the government said in its weekly crop report about Venado Tuerto in Santa Fe, the country's third largest soya producing province.
"Fortunately, it is better than expected." By Thursday, growers had gathered 34 percent of the estimated area of 18.6 million hectares (46 million acres), up 13 percentage points from the prior week but lagging last season's pace by 8 points.
"Crops planted with early-season soya in Tres Arroyos varied depending on the amount of rainfall from regular to very good," the report said. Tres Arroyos lies in Southern Buenos Aires province, Argentina's top soya-growing region. The Buenos Aires Grains exchange hiked its for soya output to 49.2 million tonnes on Thursday, up from a previous estimate of 48.8 million tonnes. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecasts Argentina's soya crop at 49.5 million tonnes.