Rains that soaked Argentina's fields over the past week improved the outlook for even the worst-hit early-seeded 2011/12 soyabeans, the government said on Friday in a weekly crop report. Argentina is one of the world's top exporters of corn, soyabeans, soyaoil and soyameal. Weeks of dry weather have hurt prospects for a record 2011/12 harvest, though recent rains have improved conditions, especially for later-seeded crops.
Farmers have finished planting both crops. They seeded 18.8 million hectares (46.46 million acres) with soya this season. Later-seeded soya is in better condition than the plants seeded early since more plentiful rains began falling in mid-January. Growers will begin gathering soya in the coming weeks. The government forecasts the oilseed's output at between 43.5 million and 45 million tonnes.
"Both early-seeded and late-planted soya show improvements in outlook because of the rains in February in Salliquelo (western Buenos Aires province)," the Agriculture Ministry said in its report, referring to the country's top soya-producing province. However, excess water due to the heavy rains caused crops to catch disease in some areas, the report said.
The Buenos Aires Grains Exchange forecasts soya output of 46.2 million tonnes. The drought hit corn harder than soyabeans this season due to the timing of its key yield-setting stages. Although showers also helped 2011/12 corn development, they came too late to avert yield losses in early-seeded plants.
Farmers have started gathering some of the 5 million hectares planted with the crop, which includes commercial-use corn as well as grains used for animal feed. Government officials initially estimated a corn crop of up to 30 million tonnes this season, but have since slashed that projection to 20.5 million to 22 million tonnes.
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