Rains bring relief to Argentina's soya crops

Weekend rains over Argentina's main soya-farming region brought relief to drought-stricken crops, but more rain is needed to halt yield losses that are increasing every week. Argentina is one of the world's biggest exporters of soya and corn, but scarce rain caused by the La Nina weather phenomenon has driven down harvest estimates and boosted global grains prices in recent months due to supply fears.
"It's been a while since it's rained like this," said Bernard Courreges, a farmer who grows soyabeans and corn in General Villegas, which lies in north-eastern Buenos Aires province. The area received between 20 millimeters and 40 millimeters of rain over the weekend. Argentina's 2010/11 soya crop is passing through the critical pod-setting stage of development, when yields are largely determined and when plants need most moisture.
Corn, which is generally planted earlier than soya, have already passed through the critical pollination phase, meaning the rains arrived too late to reverse damage to plants. Recent rainfall was most intense in the soya-producing areas of Buenos Aires province, the country's top soya region, but southern parts of Santa Fe province and Entre Rios remain very dry, said German Heinzenknecht, a meteorologist at the Applied Climate Consultancy. Heinzenknecht said rainfall was very patchy, varying between 30 millimeters and 170 millimeters. "It will allow a lot of soya to reach the end of January," he said.
But conditions are still far from ideal for soyabeans, Argentina's biggest crop. "The soya crop has been holding out in adverse conditions, but is showing signs of stress in eastern areas," Rosario Grains Exchange said in a statement. For the farmer Courreges, it is already too late for many crops. According to meteorologist Heinzenknecht, there is a chance of more rainfall over the central agricultural regions, but he added that crops are still at risk.
Argentina is the world's No 1 exporter of soyaoil and soyameal and the third-largest global supplier of soyabeans. It is also a major wheat supplier and the No 2 corn provider after the United States. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) cut its forecast for the Argentine soya crop last week to 50.5 million tonnes from a December estimate of 52 million tonnes. It also trimmed its estimate for corn output to 23.5 million tonnes from 25 million tonnes a month earlier.