Nov 05, 2019
2019/20 Argentina Corn Crop 40% Planted
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
In addition to the weather and the markets, the farmers in Argentina now have to worry about how President Elect Fernandez may impact their farming operations.
Even though the weather in Argentina has shown some improvements in the central and northern areas, it is still too dry in the southern and western areas. The near term forecast does not look very good, so the dryness will probably persist in the southern and western areas.
The first phase of corn planting is nearing completion with 40% of the corn planted and the second phase will start in early December. Now that farmers know that Alberto Fernandez will be Argentina's next president, it is possible that they may switch some of their intended corn acreage to soybeans instead. So, the combination of spotty weather and unfavorable politics led me to take a more conservative view of the Argentine corn crop.
The 2019/20 corn crop in Argentina was 40.2% as of late last week according to the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange. This represented an advance of 5.6% for the week and the planting remains a little slower than average. In the core production areas, the corn is 90-95% planted with 20-50% planted in southern Argentina and very little corn planted in far northern Argentina.
The early planted corn is rated 5.5% poor to very poor and 43.5% good to excellent, which is a higher rating than last year. The soil moisture for the early planted corn is rated 22.9% dry to very dry and 26.7% optimum to surplus, which is also a better rating than last year.