Mar 26, 2019
Early Argentine Corn Yields Exceed Expectations, 8.5% Harvested
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Reports out of Argentina continue to point to extremely good corn yields. The yields being reported will be the best of the season and it is going to be a record corn crop in some areas. The later planted corn will not be as good, but these early yields could certainly compensate for lower yields later in the harvest.
The Argentine corn crop was 8.5% harvested late last week, which was up only 2.5% for the week. The early harvest pace has been slowed by wet weather, but the pace should pick up this week with the onset of dryer weather. The early harvest is in the core production areas where the reported yields continue to be very good and above initial expectations.
A lot of the early corn yields are above 10,000 kg/ha (154 bu/ac) with some exceeding 13,000 kg/ha (200 bu/ac). These early corn yields are also expected to be the highest of the season. There are some individual reports out of Cordoba with corn yields above 16,500 kg/ha (250 bu/ac).
I think what is happening in Argentina is an example of "big crops get bigger."
In the weekly report, the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange rated the corn crop at 9.2% poor to very poor and 55.3% good to excellent, which was essentially unchanged from last week. The soil moisture for the corn was rated 1.9% short to very short and 42.9% optimum to surplus, which was an improvement compared to last week. The early planted corn is 61% mature while the later planted corn is 40% filling grain.