Argentine soya output forecast lowered due to drought

Argentine farmers will harvest 52 million tonnes of soya in the 2017/18 season, the Rosario grains exchange said in a report late on Wednesday, citing drought as its reason for cutting a previous forecast of 54.5 million tonnes. Due to weather-related delays in planting, the exchange cut its estimate of 17/18 soyabean area to 18.5 million hectares from 18.8 million hectares previously.
More than 1.5 million hectares of prime soyabean growing land has been left idle by drought, but could be reactivated by rains forecasted by meteorologists this weekend, it said. "There is soya that has not been planted in Buenos Aires province," the monthly crop report said. "The planting window is starting to close, and losses in the area could continue if the rains that growers are expecting do not materialize."
The exchange also cut its 2017/18 corn crop estimate to 39.9 million tonnes from 41.5 million tonnes. The Salado River basin in the central part of Buenos Aires province, usually one of the country's most productive areas, is one of the hardest hit by the current lack of rain. Also on Thursday, the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange cut its 2017/18 soya planting area estimate to 18 million hectares from a previous 18.1 million, citing dryness in Buenos Aires.
"Sowing progresses slowly in the north of the country, but remains paralyzed in the south of the agricultural region," the Buenos Aires exchange said in a weekly crop report. "Due to lack of time left for planting and lack of ground moisture, planting expectations have not been met in Buenos Aires. So the national soya planting area estimate is reduced to 18 million hectares, leaving 100,000 hectares out of the rotation this season," the report said.
Argentine soya planting starts around mid-October and usually extends only into the first week of January. The later soya is sown, the higher the risk that early frosts will kill the crop before the May and June harvest months. Some growers with seeds ready for planting say they are gambling by sowing soya and corn in excessively dry ground, hoping that the storms expected over the days ahead in Buenos Aires will help the crops take root.