Argentina farmers hold back wheat crop as higher prices slow sales

ARGENTINE: Argentine farmers still have about 30percent of this season’s wheat crop left to sell, the Rosario grains exchange said on Friday, as stronger prices give growers reason to hold onto grain. Farmers have sold 70percent of the 2025/26 crop so far, below the average pace of 86percent for this point in the season over the last five years, the exchange said in a report.

Even so, total sales have already reached 19 million metric tons, matching the record set in 2022. That leaves 7.2 million tons still to be sold this season, excluding grain kept for seed. Nearly 9 million tons of grain have not yet been priced.

The exchange said higher wheat prices were encouraging farmers to wait rather than rush sales. Trading in December and January wheat contracts jumped sharply in July, reaching 1.68 million tons, the highest combined monthly level for those contracts in five years. The report said tensions in the Black Sea continued to support world wheat prices, but Argentina has become less competitive in export markets because its own prices have risen as well. The Rosario exchange also said soybean export shipments had picked up, led by soymeal, though local soybean sales had not risen as much because exporters already appear to have enough supply. In corn, local prices lost support after a drop in Chicago futures.