Jan 09, 2019
Argentina Farmers still trying to Plant their 2018/19 Summer Crops
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The rainfall continues to pick up across Argentina with some areas in fact, receiving too much rain. Going forward, the forecast looks wet especially for central and northern Argentina.
Argentina Soybeans - Argentine soybeans are 89.7% planted compared to 87.5% last year and 86.8% for the 5-year average. This represents an advance of 6.3% for the week. The first crop of soybeans are 96% planted and the double crop soybeans are 75.5% planted. The first crop of soybeans are 31.7% blooming, which is 10% slower than last year. The double crop soybeans are either emerging or in early vegetative development.
There are approximately 1.85 million hectares of soybeans left to plant in Argentina. At least half of those hectares are in far northern Argentina where the soybeans are 50% to 70% planted. That means there are about 900,000 hectares of soybeans left to plant in far northern Argentina. If this wet pattern persists, there is a potential that the soybean acreage in northern Argentina ends up less than expected. Soybeans in northern Argentina could still be planted until the end of January.
The soybean crop in general is rated 11.4% poor to very poor and 41.3% good to excellent, which is an improvement from last week. The soil moisture for the soybeans is rated 6.9% short to very short and 39.4% optimum to surplus, which is also an improvement over last week. The first crop soybeans are rated better than the double crop soybeans (44.2% good to excellent vs. 32.3% good to excellent). In the core production areas, the soybeans are doing very well with 89% of the crop rated average, good, or excellent.
The early planted soybeans are approximately 30% blooming compared to 41% last year and 36.5% for the 5-year average. The double crop soybeans are emerging or in early vegetative development. Some of the soybeans will have to be replanted due to saturated conditions and hail damage. Estimates are that as much as 500,000 hectares will need to be replanted, which would equate to slightly less than 3%.
Argentina Corn - The Argentine corn crop is 82.7% planted compared to 77.9% last year and 80.4% for the 5-year average. The early corn is 79.1% planted and the late corn is 87.2% planted. The early corn is 57% pollinating and 6.7% filling grain with 0.1% mature. The late corn is either emerging or in vegetative development.
There are approximately 1 million hectares of corn left to plant in Argentina. The biggest part of the reaming hectares to plant are in far northern Argentina where the corn is 35% to 45% planted. That means there are about 650,000 hectares of corn left to plant in far northern Argentina. If the wet weather persists in northern Argentina, it is also possible that the corn acreage may end up less than anticipated.
Generally, the corn crop is rated 6.3% poor to very poor and 47.8% good to excellent, which is an improvement over last week. The soil moisture for the corn is rated 19.1% short to very short and 31.1% optimum to surplus, which is also an improvement over last week. The early planted corn is rated much better than the later planted corn (56% good to excellent vs. 3.7% good to excellent).