Jan 08, 2020
2019/20 Argentina Corn Helped by Rain, Needs More
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The weather in Argentina has improved enough over the last several week to shrink the dry areas to 10-15% of the soybean and corn acreage and to stabilize the crops. The corn in Argentina is not faring as good as the soybeans because some of the early corn was pollinating when it was hotter and dryer in November and December.
Going forward, it looks like there is enough rain in the forecast to stabilize the corn yield potential in Argentina. Some of the early corn might end up being disappointing, while the later planted corn should benefit from the improved conditions.
The corn in Argentina was 84% planted as of late last week according to the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange. This represents an advance of 8% for the week and it is essentially equal to last year. In the core production areas, the corn is 100% planted with 95-100% planted in southern Argentina and 20-25% planted in far northern Argentina. The corn planting should be complete in 2-3 weeks, which is about the same time that some of the early planted corn will be ready to start harvesting!
The early planted corn is 62% pollinating and 6% filling grain. The later planted corn is either germinating/emerging or in vegetative development. The corn in general is rated 11.6% poor and 35.7% good to excellent, which is an improvement compared to last week. The soil moisture for the corn is rated 29.5% short and 23.7% optimum, which is an improvement compared to last week.